Was Any Of It Real?
by julia3132
Summary: Seblaine Week 2018: Day 7/Fake Dating. Every time Sebastian thinks he's got Blaine figured out he realizes he wasn't even close. He begins to wonder if anything he knew about him was real.
1. Honesty

**Chapter Summary:** Blaine's friends are confused. He's been whiny and depressed since Kurt went to New York, but suddenly everything changed. The only differences they know of are Kurt is supposedly seeing someone new and Sebastian Smythe is back in Blaine's life.

 **Notes:** Canon AU: beginning after 4x11 _Sadie Hawkins._ No Blaine cheating (doesn't mean he didn't think about it) and Regionals happen earlier than in canon.

* * *

The day Finn turned over the information Sam and Blaine found on the Warblers using steroids Blaine drove to Dalton, walked into the Warblers Commons and sat on one of the sofas without saying a word. Warblers yelled, Warblers cried, Warblers yelled some more but Blaine never flinched. Two hours later he stood up and left. He repeated this every day for a week before someone finally asked why.

"He's showing you idiots he's here for you when you're ready to talk" Sebastian answered from the back of the room. No one noticed but he had sat back there every day since the first when he realized what Blaine was doing. "Not yell, scream and throw accusations…talk. It's not Blaine's fault we cheated and can't go to Regionals. Although, I don't understand how the New Directions replaced us when they were disqualified, but that's beside the point."

"Can't help you, I don't understand either." Blaine smiled as Sebastian came and sat next to him. They waited for the other Warblers to say something, anything, but they didn't. To be fair, it was impossible to tell whether they were still upset, overwhelmed by Blaine's gesture of friendship or stunned by the fact Blaine Anderson and Sebastian Smythe were sitting on one of the sofas smiling at each other.

"Coffee?"

"Killer, I thought you'd never ask."

To prevent the prying eyes which occurred the last time the two of them had coffee at Dalton, they headed off-campus to a diner Blaine had missed since his transfer. They not only had coffee but dinner as well since they wound up talking for 5 hours. Nothing was off the table… _No Thanks_ , Hunter and steroids, Slushie-gate, even Dave Karofsky.

The discussions were brutally honest and yet somehow, they managed to stay away from Blaine's strained relationship with Kurt until "What's going on with you and the blond since you realized you were too good for Hummel?" Sebastian could have slapped himself once the words were out of his mouth. Not only had he brought up Kurt but his tone had given away his jealousy of Sam. He never saw what drew Blaine to Kurt but Sam was an entirely different story.

Despite Sebastian's minor internal panic attack, Blaine seemed unfazed. "Kurt and I didn't break-up, I think. I don't know, it's complicated. I went to New York to talk about how alone I felt but we wound up having a huge fight. He called at Thanksgiving and said he would come home for Christmas then at the last minute cancelled. He got into NYADA and wanted to stay in New York to save money. Burt flew me out to surprise him but it was awkward. So, like I said, complicated. And Sam? I can't believe I'm telling you this but I _might_ have a _small_ crush on him. I mean, you've seen him. Oh, one day you have got to see his abs. I mean DAMN!" Blaine couldn't help but laugh at Sebastian stunned expression. "Ok, maybe that last part was a little too honest (then switching into an overdramatic thespian voice) but alas, Blam's destiny is purely platonic. My crush on Sam will forever remain unrequited since he is 100% Team Vagina."

This was not the Blaine Sebastian had known (somewhat) and loved (more than somewhat) "Fuck Killer, I thought the bashful school-boy was hot. This Blaine is so much hotter."

Their conversation went so well Blaine went back to Dalton on Friday for a _movie/let's all be friends again_ night, and brought Sam with him. He wanted to offer to teach Broga to those Warblers having problems with steroid withdrawal. He also wanted to see for himself what was going on between Blaine and Sebastian. Something was different with his best friend but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.

It took some time to explain but the Warblers finally understood the New Directions never wanted to hurt them, just stop the steroids/cheating. With the heavy stuff out of the way, the rest of the night was all about reconnecting. Sebastian even got to see Sam's abs when some of the guys took him up on his Broga lesson offer.

However, the best part of Sebastian's evening was when the guys who were there somehow convinced Blaine to sing _When I Get You Alone_ to mark the two year anniversary of the infamous Gap Attack. While Sam's abs may have been lickable, Blaine singing about keeping the toys in the drawer…DAMNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!

Turned out a night of hijinks righted a lot of perceived wrongs. Blaine stopped coming every day but he and Sebastian fell into a routine of Skyping every night at 8PM. When the rest of the Warblers teased him about his quote/unquote nightly date, Sebastian would deny and deflect. Maybe they were quasi dating he would tell himself. It couldn't be dating-dating because they didn't go out together except for their now weekly dinner at the diner. Right? Of course, technically he had never been on a date-date so he found it all confusing.

What he couldn't deny, or deflect, was his feelings for Mr. Sex on a Stick had come back…times 10.

After a week of Skypes, his heightened awareness of all things Blaine Anderson led Sebastian to conclude Blaine was hiding something from him. It bothered him so much he called Sam. Sam insisted Blaine was fine, they were just busy working on a way to raise money for the bus to Regionals. So, he let it go…kind of. When the feeling was still there few days later, he called Sam again. This time Blaine's BFF's response was to send a video of Blaine singing _Don't Stop Me Now_ while wearing tight leather pants. Sebastian didn't know what it was supposed to prove but by the third time he watched it he didn't care.

That was until Blaine texted to cancel their Skype time. Evidently, he had a cold and his friend Tina had come over with chicken soup and night-time cold medicine which would knock him out. Sebastian practically ran to change, determined to get to Blaine and take care of him himself. When he got to his room, he started undressing only to stop when he realized he had no idea where Blaine lived. He picked up his blazer to retrieve his phone and call Sam when he saw it…a perfectly wrapped gift with a big red bow and a note attached.

 _Bas,_

 _Sam said you called a couple of times to ask if there was something I wasn't telling you. There is/was and I prayed you would never find out, but in the spirit of our commitment to honesty, I offer this gift to you. It will explain everything._

 _Blaine_

 _PS…January & December  
PPS I case you didn't notice, I've decided to start calling you Bas. You don't look like a Seb._

The last line made Sebastian smile but it was nothing compared to his smile when he opened the box and held the Men of McKinley calendar in his hands. He flipped to January…yeah, Blaine was most likely asleep from the cold medicine and if not, his good friend Tina was taking care of him. Something had suddenly come…um, _up_.

The following morning Sam called and asked if it was ok for him to stop by Dalton later that afternoon. Since he didn't mention Blaine, Sebastian thought the request was strange but agreed to it anyway. That was his first mistake and how he found himself in the Warblers Commons sitting on a sofa across from the Blaine-less New Directions. Yes, all of them…Sam, that Tina chick, a guy he thinks is named Artie, Sam's girlfriend/Satan's ex, Puckerman Jr., Hudson 2.0, Berry 2.0, Sam's ex (with a twist) 2.0, Mini Blonde Satan, the dude with the dreads and the girl with the mob dad who can't sing. His second mistake had been to not ask Sam what he wanted to talk about.

"Have you lost you fucking mind?

"You have your weekly dinner date with Blaine later, right?" Sam asked, confusing Sebastian even more. He knew the answer was yes. "Just ask him then."

"I am not going to ask Blaine to be my date to Schuester's wedding…or ask him if I could be his date to Schuester's wedding. Either way not happening."

"Fake date" that Tina girl, who he would now refer to as Blaine's Hag, hissed out.

"Still not happening."

"Stretch, we get it" the Mini Blonde Satan butted in. He thinks likes her…maybe enough to learn her name. "But we need you to find your balls, man up and do this for Captain Hair Gel."

Ok, not liking her so much anymore "What the hell is that supposed to mean? Sam, you better start talking."

"No, I should" Brittany (where the hell did that come from) informed him. "I got a call from Santana wanting to know how Blaine was doing since Kurt was seeing some guy in New York. She has a secret soft spot for your boo. Well, I guess now not so secret."

"Oh" Sebastian thought he was hiding his internal flailing, but the smiles on those he decided to call _The_ _Clones_ told him otherwise. Wait a minute… "Let's get this straight, Blaine is not my boo. We are not dating-dating but we do talk and he hasn't mentioned anything about Kurt seeing someone else."

"He didn't know."

Any control he had over what could be considered his _Old Sebastian_ tendencies was now gone. "Son of a bitch!" he yelled as he got up and began to pace. "So, what? You want me to tell him so he can hate me?" He knew Blaine's _friends_ being nice to him was too good to be true. "Hold up, did you say _didn't know_? As in he does now? Is he ok?"

"That's the thing…" Seriously, why was the Rachel Wanna-Be speaking? "Brittany and Sam told him and he shrugged…as in lifted his shoulders…and then said that he wasn't surprised…and then he made a suggestion about our duet for Regionals…and then…"

"Marley, he's got it" Puckerman Jr thankfully put an end to the ramble. "It's just Blaine's been depressed and whiny over Kurt for as long as we've known him and now Kurt moves on and no reaction what-so-ever?"

Hudson 2.0 seemed to agree "Yeah, we've always liked Blaine but we like this dude a lot better. We want to keep him around."

Sebastian would be lying if he said he didn't agree. Since apparently he wasn't being called on to be the sacrificial lamb who dropped the _Hummel_ bomb on Blaine, he calmed enough to sit back down. "What does this have to do with me?"

"Yo, Sebastian, listen man, I've got to admit I had reservations when you and Blaine became friends after the steroids." Since it was (definitely) Artie talking, Sebastian wanted to listen. This guy was the only one who had been there for everything…including _I Want You Back_ which lead to Slushie-gate. "But the Blaine we've had lately is almost back to the Pre-Klaine Blaine Warbler I first met and we all think that has a lot to do with you. Like Ryder said, we want to keep him around and are afraid him seeing Kurt at the wedding will take away all the progress he's made. We can put up blocks between the two but we can't stay by Blaine's side without it looking suspicious. That's why we need you. Just…as much as you hate Kurt, don't do something to fuck up the wedding."

"I wouldn't do that. Let me talk to Blaine."

At dinner, Sebastian noticed Blaine was talking a lot about things like his new Prius, how guys can be divas, how Vapo-rub was probably the greatest invention in the history of mankind…but nothing about Kurt. It was only when he mentioned he was supposed to sing at the reception on Saturday did Sebastian see an opening.

"What song?"

"I don't know. That's the problem."

"Why? Because you won't be singing with Hummel anymore?" Shit!

Blaine sat back in the booth and crossed his arms across himself "Let me guess, Sam told you about Santana's call to Brittany."

"Sam…Brittany, Artie, Your Hag, the girl I found out was named Kitty because I cared enough to learn her name, Teen Jesus, Tone-deaf Barbie and The Clones."

That broke Blaine's defenses "What?"

"Killer, they all came to Dalton this afternoon and asked if I would ask you to take me as your date, technically fake date, to Schuester's wedding. Before you get all pissed-off, it wasn't that they didn't think you could handle seeing Hummel. They just thought you might want some back-up. Plus, you've got to admit the look on people's faces if we walk in together would be priceless."

"I don't know."

"Would it help if I said I promised Artie I wouldn't do anything to fuck up the wedding? However, I refuse to be held responsible for any possible Hummel hysterics."

Blaine didn't answer his question at first. He just stared at him so intently it almost became uncomfortable. Finally… "Ok, but if we do this, we do it right."

"What does that mean?"

"We go as a couple, complete with pet names and all the PDAs. Kissing, hand holding…no, your hand would be on my ass…"

Sebastian thought his brain would implode, and he couldn't believe he was going to do this but "Uh, Killer? You heard me say fake date, right?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry" Blaine groaned and then dropped his head. In an instant he had turned back into the whiny & depressed Blaine the New Directions had described earlier. "I'm so tired of his shit, Bas. It's like he thinks I'm on the other end of a tether, waiting to come back to him if/when he decides to gives it a pull."

"Shnookums"

Blaine's head snapped back up "Excuse me?"

"You said pet names so I suggested Shnookums. Or I could go with Pookey-bear, Snuggle-bunny, Baby…"

"Babe" Both of them smiled at Blaine's suggestion. It felt right, maybe too right. "But I'm just going to call you Bas."

"I can live with that. So, since it's Valentine's Day do I need to give you some big romantic gesture?"

"Yes"

"Wait…what? I was kidding."

"I'm not. I don't know what song to sing so you're going to perform for me." Blaine got out his phone and started to text. "In honor of the anniversary of the Gap Attack, which you argued should be an official Warbler Holiday, make it cringeworthy."

"You want me to get onstage and sing _Candles_ with Hummel?"

"No, you promised Artie you wouldn't fuck-up the wedding."

Sebastian choked on his water from trying not to spit it out in laughter. He now understood why Sam, Artie and the others asked him to do this. The Blaine who made that crack was more than ready to be around his ex but he was the same guy who was whiny & depressed Blaine only a few moments earlier. For the first time since the New Directions had shown up at Dalton, Sebastian was all-in on this fake date plan. He owed Blaine this…and so much more.

"Bas" Blaine got his attention by waving his phone. "I got you some help with your big romantic song for me."

"Sam?"

"Santana"

"What?!"

"She was upset when Britt told her I didn't know about Kurt. I thought knowing you were going to be my fake date for the wedding would make her feel better."

How could Blaine look so innocent and so devious at the same time? "Why do I think I should be afraid?"

"Because you should. You really, really should."

* * *

This is the last of my Seblaine Week 2018 purposefully written WIPs. I also took the challenge of writing this as Sebastian driven (for the most part). I have never written an entire fic (only chapters) with him heading the direction. This is definitely not the fic I started writing. Wish me luck.

As always, thank you for reading.


	2. Can You Handle The Truth?

**Summary:** Blaine shares his feelings with Sebastian and Sebastian shares his as well…but not only with Blaine.

 **Notes:** Canon dialogue was used in this chapter. I am not and have never been associated with the television show Glee.

Unlike canon, all Season 4 New New Directions will be at the wedding and reception

There is a major canon timeline change with a mention of Regionals coming the weekend after the wedding.

* * *

 **The Wedding**

Santana stopped to adjust her dress before entering the sanctuary, happy to see she wasn't as late as she thought she was. She had to laugh though at all the disappointed faces on the New New Directions (well, except Brittany. Damn, she looked good) when they realized it was only her.

This was going to be so much fun!

She saw Quinn sitting alone, looking like she wanted to be anywhere but where she was. "This seat taken?"

"It is a Carrot Top convention. I am so over this, and it hasn't even started yet" Quinn offered without any prompt but scooted over to give Santana room.

"Hey, I'm clearly the hottest bitch in this lousy joint, but I'm all alone, stuck here sitting with you. I hate weddings." Well, not this wedding, she told herself.

"Do you know what I hate? Men. Every single one of them is a pig, except maybe Mr. Schue and Al Roker. And you know what? You were right. I do let men define me, but not anymore. Like Gloria Steinem said _A woman_ _without a man is like a fish without a bicycle_." Quinn ended her rant when Santana obviously muffled her laughter after reading a text. "What's going on?"

"What if I told you not all men are pigs? In fact, I'm looking forward to the arrival of two in particular. And Al Roker is disgusting, by the way."

"I have no idea what you're talking about but I must say your Auntie Snixx smirk is quite intriguing."

"Just keep your eyes Hummel."

Quinn found Kurt up front talking with Rachel and Mercedes. Nothing strange there. What she did find strange was how all the New New Directions seemed antsy, constantly turning to look to the back of the church. At first, she thought it was just Brittany turning to wave at Santana, but no, it was all of them. Her curiosity was waning when she saw Kurt turn completely white. She followed his train of sight to see Blaine hand-in-hand with…

Sebastian Fucking Smythe

"For real?" Quinn asked an incredibly smug Santana.

"Oh, yeah. It's totally real." Santana thought it pointless to tell her Seblaine was fake when she was certain by the end of the night they wouldn't be.

Quinn turned back around with a huge smile on her face. "You know, I love weddings."

Meanwhile, Blaine and Sebastian kept holding hands as they walked up the aisle and sat in a pew next to Sam and Brittany.

"You two look great" Brittany giggled, but only loud enough for the four of them to hear.

Sebastian let go of Blaine's hand but put his arm across the back of the pew "Was there ever a doubt?" He was ready to comment on the number of red-heads in the sanctuary, when Blaine began to fidget. "You ok…Babe?"

"Just waiting for the inevitable." Blaine subtly nodded to point out Kurt was on his way over, but the pending confrontation was postponed when Mr. Schue and Finn took their places.

The look of frustration on Kurt's face reminded Sam he was supposed to be taking pictures for the Warblers, so he got out his phone. "Dudes, you need to be more lovey-dovey."

Sebastian shook his head but leaned in and kissed Blaine's temple, earning him hushed squeals from Kitty, Hagatha and the rest of the Spice Girls sitting behind them. Blaine returned the kiss with one to Sebastian's cheek. It gave him the chance to whisper "I'm sorry, but I'm sure they're going to be like this all day. And I'm doubly sorry because Santana will be worse."

"It's fine, Babe." Sebastian didn't have a clue of how he would stop using the term of endearment when this was over. It was already becoming a habit.

When the procession of bridesmaids ended and the wedding march began, the congregation stood and turned to watch the bride's entrance. They fell into a stunned silence except for one last minute guest who couldn't control his laughter. "Ok, this might not be the appropriate time but I would like to note for the record I kept my promise to Artie. I had nothing to do with fucking up this wedding."

 **The Reception**

Blaine put his Prius in park and shut it off but didn't move. "I'm giving you an out. You don't have to go in there."

Sebastian's heart dropped…to his feet. This fake-date had been damn near perfect. He wasn't going to let it end any earlier than it had to. "Why?"

"Because this has never been a fake-date for me and I don't think it has for you either. But Bas, if we were to take the word fake out of this, I'd be all in. It wouldn't be dating to me. It would be everything. And despite you saying in the past you don't do boyfriends, I really think you could and would be amazing."

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Ok, composure, Smythe. There's obviously a but, and by but he meant asshole. "But Hummel…"

"This has nothing to do with Kurt…sort of. With everything that's happened between us, there's no way I'd go back to him. This is about me being 98% ready to try and not be afraid of losing who I am in another relationship."

"Will you go out with me…" Blaine looked at him as if he had lost his mind "Let me finish. Go out with me on a doesn't-have-to-be-real-but-not-fake date 2 weeks from today. You have Regionals next weekend and when you win you'll want to celebrate with the Nude Erections."

"Santana?"

Sebastian gripped onto the side of his seat. He was beginning to panic since Blaine didn't give him an answer. "Of course" he replied, disguising (hopefully) his anxiety. "Anyway, we can keep doing what we've been doing with the texts and Skypes and Wednesday diner dinners until then but only if you want to." Please say yes.

"I'd understand if you said no but will you come to Regionals?"

It technically wasn't an answer but Sebastian took the invitation to Regionals as a good sign. "Already am, Babe."

Blaine's smile was enough of an answer but it was still nice to hear "Then yes, I would love to go on a doesn't-have-to-be-real-but-not-fake date with you in 2 weeks."

Sebastian's heart was finally back in his chest but was beating probably five times the normal rate. Blaine was right. This had never been fake for him either. However, the part about being an amazing boyfriend? He wasn't as sure as Blaine, but he was more than willing to try…and it didn't scare the shit out of him. Mostly.

In the meantime, he needed to get his head back into the situation at hand. "Great, but I actually have two stipulations. The first, explain why the hell you and I, your friends and the people that don't matter are even here?"

"A promised separate, unofficial and totally illegal open bar if we came and sang anyway. I think Miss Pillsbury's family is much happier they're celebrating the non-wedding and not the other way around. But, if you're ready to go through with this fake-date, we should get going. There's a meeting to hammer out a new quote/unquote set-list since all the sappy love songs we were asked to sing originally are out."

As they headed into the hotel Blaine remembered something. "You said you had two stipulations. What's the second?"

"I get to keep calling you Babe." Sebastian was a little leery of Blaine's reaction but again his smile showed there was nothing to worry about.

"Deal."

When Blaine and Sebastian finally found everyone, the first thing they noticed was they were the last to arrive. Seeing the expression on Kurt's face had Sebastian grip Blaine's hand tighter. "One word and we can be at Scandals in 15 minutes."

"Tempting, but no. I have to do this. But first…" Blaine rolled up on his toes and gave Sebastian's lips a peck. "Thank you."

"No problem, Babe."

"Hey Lovebirds! Get your cute asses over here!"

Sebastian's smile widened realizing the call over was from Kitty and not Santana. Yeah, he definitively liked the girl. "Fine, I suppose you need the real talent to decide what songs will complement Babe's choice. But whatever you chose, my big romantic gesture for him is set."

He knew there was a plan. Sam, Artie and the others weren't going to allow anyone unaware of the Seblaine plan a chance to talk, which (according to him) meant he could be as truthful (obnoxious) as he wanted. However, this wasn't only for him and Blaine. The New New Directions were tired of the graduates constantly taking charge without asking and this time Mr. Schue wasn't there to let it happen.

"Yeah, Dude, and we've got you're back." Brittany was discreetly pinching Sam to help him get through what he wanted to say without laughing. "Santana told, notice I didn't say asked, us guys to back you up. Interesting song choice."

"Satan chose it."

"Oh, Blaine, you're so lucky. But what should the rest of us sing?" Damn, which one was she? Sweetie Spice? No that was the girl actually named Sugar. Whoever she was, it made sense Rachel 2.0 was on _Interrupt Rachel_ duty.

"Inappropriate for a wedding songs? God knows we've sung enough of them in Glee Club" Artie suggested.

Sebastian really liked Artie, and not just because he had given him the perfect opening. "Excuse me but the Warblers have sung both _Glad You Came_ and _Whistle_ in competition."

Before those assigned could block Rachel, Quinn did. "Some of us, as part of an Abstinence Club, sang _Afternoon_ _Delight_ with pictures of cherry pies floating around on a screen behind us. We all sang _Blame It On The Alcohol_ while drunk…at school. Finn and Rachel sang _With You I'm Born Again_ dressed as a priest and nun. We sang…"

"Holy Shit! Stop! You Win! You Win!" Sebastian couldn't remember the last time, if ever, he had laughed that hard. He was beginning to (only very, very, _very_ slightly) see why Blaine stayed with these people instead of returning to Dalton.

"I know what we should sing!" Brittany screeched, bringing all attention to her. "Everyone hooks up at weddings!" She grabbed Blaine's hand and began dragging him toward the stage. "Unique! Tina! Come on!"

"Does anyone know what's going on?" Mike asked.

You could see the lightbulb go off in Artie's head "I do and it's brilliant considering her statements about hook-ups. We don't want to miss this, especially you Seb and Sam."

None of them realized they had let their guards down. Although to be honest, Sebastian was surprised they had managed to keep Kurt quiet this long. "I can't believe Blaine had the nerve to bring you."

Oh, he wanted to go there. "Well Hummel, I can't believe you didn't bring the guy you started fucking in New York after you abandoned, but didn't have the balls to break-up with, the guy you left back in Ohio."

"Burnnnnnnnnnnn" Ryder said under his breath but loud enough to make those around him giggle.

Kurt wasn't one of them. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"But I do, Hummel." All movement toward the stage halted when the previously (and scarily) silent Santana moved to stand next to Sebastian.

At the same time Sebastian could see Blaine and the girls setting up onstage. In a choice between confronting Kurt and watching Blaine perform, there wasn't one. "Come on, Satan. Let's go watch my boy blow these people out of the water."

"He's not your boy" Kurt snapped. He stepped forward to follow them only to find small, but firm, hand pushing him back.

"Oh, but he is _Porcelain_ " Kitty drawled with special emphasis on her use of Sue's moniker for him. "And those of us who were once tortured by Blaine's sad-sack whining are not letting you anywhere near his happy bubble." It was in that moment Sebastian decided he no longer liked, but loved Kitty. She could be the little (like seriously little) sister he never wanted.

Sam managed to pull her away…ok, carry her away as she literally growled at Kurt. "You've made your point, Wild Cat. He understands he needs to stay away from Blaine and Sebastian."

"He better."

Those not named Kurt and Rachel, who were arguing about something, were front and center when Unique opened with the lyrics to _Call Me Maybe_. There had been an unspoken fear amongst all of them that even though Miss Pillsbury's parents asked them to perform, the family wouldn't be receptive considering they were Mr. Schue's students.

They couldn't have been more wrong. The red-heads were a bunch of party animals, up dancing and singing along for every song. Following _Call Me Maybe,_ the girls and boys of the New New Directions each repeated their performances of _Locked Out Of Heaven_ and _No Scrubs_ from the Sadie Hawkins dance. When they finished, Kurt and Rachel made their way to the stage but the band demanded a break…and a formal, written set list. Evidently, not all bands can pull songs out of their asses at a moment's notice like the one at McKinley.

Due to the break, everyone wanted to check out the room with their "open bar". Because of the Kurt/Sebastian/Santana/Kitty kerfuffle, it was agreed this should be done in shifts, split between graduates and non. It was a given Santana would join Blaine and Sebastian's group but somehow, they also wound up with Quinn, Mike and a niece of Miss Pillsbury's that Artie had been dancing with. Not that any of them minded.

"Babe, that was crazy!" Sebastian amused as he slammed back a shot.

Blaine held up his cup as if to give a toast. "Welcome to the New New Directions, Bas. It's where crazy just seems to happen."

There were a couple of other silly toasts before everyone got down to the serious business of drinking and choosing the next group of songs to perform. In the middle of a battle of whether Sam should sing _Red_ _Solo Cup_ or not, Blaine pulled Sebastian and Santana to the side. "I think the two of you should sing _Smooth Criminal_."

Well, that was unexpected.

TBC

* * *

If you read my work it may seem as if I've posted quite a bit lately and it's true. I have been stuck at home for the better part of two weeks due to smoke from forest fires in my area and horrible allergies. However, I am finally free so a heads-up that future updates will not be coming as quickly :(

As always, thank you for reading.


	3. This Is The You I Always Saw

**Summary: Sebastian is blown away by what he learns about Blaine…and himself.**

 **Note:** **I am choosing to ignore the Season 4 drama between those in what I refer to as the New New Directions. This would include storylines such as Kitty giving Marley an eating disorder, Unique catfishing Ryder, Jake and Brie…you get what I mean. Here they are just one big happy family but individual issue will still come into play.**

* * *

 _I think the two of you should sing Smooth Criminal_

" _What the fuck, Blainers?"_

" _Yeah, Babe. What the fuck?"_

Blaine really, Really, REALLY wanted this so he went heavy on the puppy-dog eyes/fluttering eyelashes combo. "It will show everyone you two are friends now and they can stop with the snide comments" he said as sweetly as possible.

"I wouldn't say we're exactly friends" Santana murmured, trying desperately to avoid looking directly at Blaine.

But, Blaine knew he had her. "Ok, the two of you are working on getting along. How's that?" He didn't wait for her answer before turning to Sebastian and ramping up the charm. "You know you want to do it. You've both said it was spectacular…until the Slushie to Santana's face part."

All of Sebastian's resolve melted away (Damn it! Those fucking eyelashes will be my downfall) and he knew he couldn't say no. However, there was one thing Blaine probably hadn't considered. "Our rendition was spectacular but I have to admit a lot of it was due to the cellos."

"I've got that covered. Meet me on stage in 10 minutes."

Blaine managed to give them each a kiss on the cheek and disappear before either Sebastian or Santana could find out what he meant by _I've got that covered_. "Why do I feel as if we've been set up?" Sebastian asked despite knowing the answer.

"Because we totally have."

There was a fondness in her voice that was impossible to miss and reminded Sebastian of a question he had been meaning to ask. "Santana, Britt said you had a soft spot for Blaine. I knew when you came to Dalton after the Slushie there was more…I mean…I don't understand. From what I heard, you and Blaine weren't particularly close last year."

She pointed over to an empty table that gave them more privacy. Sebastian could see how hard this was for her but appreciated she was trying. "When I was outed I was a total bitch to everyone, especially Kurt and Blaine. This is going to sound awful but…"

He reached over and put his hand on her's to show support. "Hey, we all dealt with coming out the best we could." Blaine was right (of course). He and Santana were becoming friends.

Guess hell could freeze over.

"Anyway, like I said, I was outed. Everyone knew and had an opinion they were all too ready to share. One asshole even not-so-subtly implied he could fuck the gay out of me. I wanted to…not hide, but pull back until everything died down."

"That doesn't sound unreasonable."

"No, but if I was seen with Klaine that couldn't happen. At that time, they were _too out_. Does that make sense?"

"I once told Hummel one of us had a hard luck case of the gay-face and it wasn't me. So, yeah, it makes sense. As far as Blaine goes, I bet the homophobes at McKinley don't think his tight-ass highwaters and bow ties are as super-hot as I do."

"No, but a lot of the girls sure do." They both tried not to laugh as Tina walked by at that exact moment. It helped lightened the mood. "So, like I said, I was a first-class bitch and pushed them away. I don't know if they figured out what was going on, but later both of them tried to talk to me individually instead. With Kurt it was like he wanted me to be _gay_. You know, take on the cause alongside of him by starting clubs and support groups at school. He wouldn't let it go. I was nowhere ready for anything like that. Hell, I'm still not."

Sebastian wondered why she didn't say _alongside him AND Blaine_ but didn't ask. "I take it Blaine was different."

The small smile Blaine's name brought out of her gave Sebastian an inexplicable sense of pride. "Your dapper dreamboat just wanted me to be myself…except happy. I couldn't believe how nice he was considering I had Quinn blow up..." Before Santana had the chance to finish (Wait…Blow up? Metaphorically or literally?), Brittany and Sugar found them and said it was time.

The two of them thought their singing together would be a surprise but it was nothing compared for the bomb Blaine dropped on everyone.

"Blaine plays the cello?" A slightly inebriated Rachel slurred into Kurt's ear.

"Yes, but I didn't know he played that well. It's…it's…"

"Hot as fuck!"

"Rachel!" Kurt pulled her away from the rest of their friends. "You didn't need to yell, I can hear you just fine. God, how come every time you get drunk around my boyfriend you want to make out with him?"

"Ok, number one, the last time, Blaine was not your boyfriend. Number two, this time, BLAINE IS NOT YOUR BOYFRIEND! You fucked that up and I have no sympathy for you."

"I thought you liked Adam?"

"I do, but you told me you and Blaine were over when you started seeing him."

"We were." Rachel crossed her arms and gave him the look she always did when she knew he was lying. "Ok, maybe we hadn't _officially_ broken-up. But, he…" Kurt took his eyes off of Blaine long enough to watch Sebastian and Santana singing together. "Seriously, _Sebastian Smythe_?"

"You're just mad because your whole plan to hook-up with Blaine is an epic fail. Don't deny it."

Kurt knew he had busted. "Fine, if I don't deny it will you please quiet down?" She softened her stance but it was clear she expected details. "I wanted to see if Blaine and I could make it work before I got in too deep with Adam."

"Nice try, Liar-liar pants on fire."

"It's not like the only reason you didn't invite Brody was you want to have sex with Finn."

"At least I'm woman enough to admit it. Speaking of Finn, I have to find him. I know the perfect duet for us to sing if we can ever get on stage." She started to leave but then turned back to Kurt. "Oh, I've always thought Blaine was hot as fuck but kept it to myself out of respect for you. That's not happening any more. And by the way, Sebastian is sexy as hell and I bet he's a stud in bed. Oooh, I wonder if he and Blaine would let me watch? Or join them? Oh, there's Finn."

When Rachel ran off, Kurt tried to wrap his head around what she said.

He wasn't the only one.

"Should we tell someone?" Unique asked Joe who had overheard the conversation as well.

Joe shook his head. "No, everyone is having too much fun. However, if Kurt becomes a problem we tell the others."

"All of them?"

"I vote yes. We'd need help keeping Seb from going after Kurt."

Unique put her hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter. "Or Kitty. I think she's still mad at Sam for pulling her away earlier. Come on, let's go congratulate Seb and Santana on their performance."

"And find out how we didn't know Blaine could play cello."

"That was a given."

By the time they joined the others, Blaine had pulled Sebastian away. "You truly were spectacular."

"No, your cello playing was but it requires a few explanations. Like how did the guy from the string quartet know what you wanted and where the hell did your cello come from?"

"I promise we'll get into it but not now. Sam's a step past tipsy and wants to perform the _Hot in Herre/Centerfold_ mash-up we did while shooting the Men of McKinley calendar. You saw the video, right?"

"Yeah, Sam sent me a copy after you gave me the calendar. I don't see the problem."

"The problem is he wants Santana, Quinn, Britt and Sugar to do the Cheerios part with Kitty."

"So?"

"So, the girls are wearing dresses not cheerleading uniforms with kick pants underneath and I'm pretty sure at least one of them isn't wearing underwear. Let's go."

"You go, I'll be fine. I should probably eat something before the alcohol catches up with me too. I swear I'll be a good boy. I've changed, remember?"

"No, you haven't."

Sebastian's thoughts began to race. How could Blaine not see he had changed? Had kept his promise? Blaine told him in the car this wasn't fake to him and he hated the Old Sebastian. Well, maybe hate was a strong word but…

He was brought back by the feeling of Blaine's lips on his. "Blaine, I've kept my promise."

"Yes, you kept your promise to stop doing all those things you were doing at the time, but you didn't change. That guy was the anomaly. This you? This is the you I always saw." Blaine grabbed ahold of Sebastian's jacket and pulled him in for another kiss. Nothing big but a little more than the quick pecks they had been sharing. "I'll be right back. And Bas? My name is Babe."

 _This is the you I always saw_ played on a loop in Sebastian's head as he went through the buffet line. The sentence was so simple. Eight words. The most beautiful eight words he had ever heard.

It seemed appropriate the girl from the Old New Directions who was always pushed aside for Berry was belting out _I Will Always Love_ _You_.

Kurt had taken the stage before her but left without singing when Blaine went to find Sam. Sebastian felt he should be concerned, but Blaine was out of the room and with his overprotective friends. Plus, he hadn't realized how hungry he was and with the number of shots he had earlier that probably wasn't a good thing. He found an empty, secluded table but it didn't stay that way for long.

"What can I do for you, Marley?" he asked between bites of _amazingly good for a wedding_ food.

"Hey, you knew my name."

"I guess I did, although I wouldn't get used to it."

She knew he was teasing. He wouldn't have learned her name if he didn't care. "I won't." Sebastian could tell there was more coming but the girl appeared lost, as if she couldn't come up with the right words to say. Finally, she blurted out "I just wanted to thank you."

That sounded a little more sincere than necessary. "Thank me for what?"

"Blaine."

"You realize I actually had nothing to do with Blaine. You see, one day Daddy Anderson met Mommy Anderson…"

"Stop!" Marley squealed while laughing at the same time. He was glad to hear it. He thought for a moment he had overstepped. "You know that's not what I meant. I meant thank you for making him smile again."

"It was nothing."

Marley reached for his arm which could have been dangerous for as fast as he was shoveling the food in. "No, it's everything."

Sebastian put down his fork and sat back in the chair "Marley, what's going on?"

She looked around to make sure they were alone. "Do you remember I'm the one who fainted during Sectionals?"

"Yes" he answered, having no idea where she was going with this.

"Sebastian, I'm poor. My mom is a lunch lady at school and my dad took off right after I was born."

Wasn't expecting that. "So, you're the stereotypical poor girl with the heart of gold that everyone she meets falls in love with?" He didn't know a lot about Marley except she could really sing and was the nicest one of the group.

She ignored the implied compliment but her blush showed Sebastian she appreciated it. "When I fainted, I kept telling everyone I was fine, but I wasn't and I couldn't go to the doctor because I knew we couldn't afford it. An hour after I got home a doctor came to my house. I didn't know they even did that anymore. When he left my mom asked about a bill. He said it was covered. Then all these other things began happening. Healthy meals delivered to the house. Our rent was paid for a year…"

"How do you know it was Blaine?"

"I just do. He's done something for everyone of us in what you call the New New Directions. Not as big as what he's done for me but I'm pretty sure he's at least tried to do the same for Sam and his family."

The last revelation made something click for him "There's something going on with Kitty isn't there? She really went after Hummel."

Marley didn't answer but her silence told him everything he needed to know. "Um, so, like I said, thank you. The only thing we could think to do for him was help him be happy again and you make him happy."

Damn it! Now he was going to have to adopt this one as a little sister too. Stupid Blaine, making him care about these people. "Trust me, Rachel 2.0. There's no need to thank me. Blaine makes me happy as well."

"Ugh! Can you not call me Rachel 2.0 or any other name that involves her? Not only do I hate the comparisons, she's Kurt's best friend."

"Ok, let me think." He actually did because every one of her nicknames was tied to Berry except for the Spice Girl name he couldn't remember he gave her. "How about Goldie Spice for your heart of gold?"

"I love the Spice Girls! Are we all Spice Girls?"

"Kitty is Kitty, Britt is Britt and Tina is…"

"Hagatha!" They said in unison before breaking out in giggles. Yes, Sebastian Smythe could giggle. At least Blaine's _This is the you I always saw_ Sebastian Smythe could.

"What's so funny, Bas?"

Neither Sebastian or Marley noticed Blaine and Santana had joined them until Blaine said something. "Sorry, Babe. It's between me and Goldie." He paused to give Marley a wink, letting her know her secret was safe with him. "Where's Sam? Were you able to talk him out of the song?"

"We did."

Sebastian was uncomfortable with the smile Blaine gave Santana after he answered. "How?"

He was more uncomfortable with the smile Santana gave him. "Easy, Loverboy. It's time for your big romantic song for Blainers."

TBC


	4. Secrets, Lies and Bowties

**Summary:** Blaine learns a rather interesting secret about Sebastian and then listens to Kurt's explanation about what happened with the guy in New York.

 **Notes:** Parts of song lyrics were removed and replaced with dialogue.

I may have insulted red-heads. I don't think I did but I mentioned it to my red-headed mother and she wasn't happy so, if you are offended…I'm sorry.

* * *

 _Easy, Loverboy. It's time for your big romantic song for Blainers._

Blaine was watching Sebastian, Sam, Artie, Jake, Ryder, Mike and for some reason Puck, make last minute tweeks to Sebastian's performance when Santana reappeared beside him "Here's the deal. I chose this song for two reasons. The first was to piss off Hummel…"

"Naturally."

"…and the other was to follow your requirement of it had to be embarrassing."

"Ok? I take it there's a problem."

"Well, the embarrassing part was to come from the audience. I assumed anyone related to Mr. Schue would be use to embarrassing performances..."

"Agreed."

"…but I expected Miss Pillsbury's family to be uptight like her, not the Raucous Red-Heads who have been partying since we got here. And when I say partying, I mean drinking…a lot. Like they're happy the wedding didn't…"

Blaine stopped her when he heard the distinctive opening of Sebastian's song. "How did you think this would be embarrassing? I sang about sex toys. That was embarrassing!"

"Miss Pillsbury's family…"

Again, Blaine cut her off, this time by waving his arms in frustration. "Look at them, Santana! I'm pretty sure Ed Sheeran is their spirit animal!" He let out an overexaggerated sigh and headed toward the stage.

(Sebastian) _The club isn't the best place to find a lover  
So the bar is where I go  
_(Guys) _MMMM_

Santana hurried to catch him. "Where are you going, you big Drama Queen?" Blaine gave her a wink to show he was kidding before continuing onto the stage.

The simple act relaxed Santana enough to switch her focus. It was time to go have some fun while making it clear to Kurt there was a price to pay for messing with her boy…well, boys. Yeah, that's right. Sebastian fucking Smythe was now _her boy._

Guess hell could freeze over.

(Sebastian) _And now I'm singing like  
_ _Boy, you know I want your love  
Your love was handmade for somebody like me  
Come on now, follow my lead  
I may be crazy, don't mind me_

Sebastian was intrigued as he watched Blaine join him onstage but was blown-away when he grabbed a microphone, turned the song into a duet and began to (dirty) dance with him.

(Blaine) _Say: "Boy, let's not talk too much  
Grab on my waist and put that body on me"  
Come on now, follow my lead  
Come, come on now, follow my lead  
_(Guys) _MMMM_

(Sebastian and Blaine) _I'm in love with the shape of you  
We push and pull like a magnet do  
Although my heart is falling too  
I'm in love with your body_

 _Last night you were in my room  
And now my bed sheets smell like you  
Every day discovering something brand new  
_ _Oh, I'm in love with your body_

Any reservations about 2 boys signing this song to each other went out the window when everyone in the room (except a jealous ex sulking in the corner) joined in.

(Everyone) _Oh-i-oh-i-oh-i-oh-i_

When the song ended (after an extra chorus of _Oh-i-oh-i-oh-i-oh-i_ at the insistence of the audience), Sebastian was sure Blaine was going to kiss him but it didn't happen...again. "So, what did you think of the song?" he asked as they exited the stage, trying to refocus his thoughts.

"It wasn't what I asked for" Blaine replied with the straightest face possible while leading Sebastian away for a moment alone. Once they reached a suitable distance, Blaine faced him sporting a huge, ridiculously cheesy grin. It was amazing how Blaine could say so much with just his eyes and smile, but it was still nice to hear the words. "I loved my song, Bas. Thank you. Did you have fun?"

That was an odd question. "Honestly?"

"No lie to me."

"Haha." Actually, it was kind of funny. He liked smart-ass Blaine. "It was the most fun I've ever had performing and it wasn't just because I finally got to sing a duet and _push and pull_ with you. Working with Santana and the guys, watching Kitty, Goldie and the rest of the Spice Girls dancing with…"

"Blaaaaaaaaaaaine! Seeeeeebaaaaaastian! You guys were soooooooo hot!"

"Oh, shit." Blaine tried to pull the extremely intoxicated Rachel off of him but she had a death grip on his tie. Why had he chosen this day to _not_ wear a bowtie? "Um, thanks Rach. Let's go find…"

"I love you so much, Blaine. I told Kurt he's a fucking idiot. And you…" She whipped around and wrapped her arms tightly around Sebastian's waist. "You were a big meany last year, but can I tell you a secret?"

She was clearly unaware of how loud she was but Sebastian wasn't about to let anything (not even Blaine's puppy-dog eyes) deny him this this. "Why yes, Rachel, you can tell me a secret. I promise I won't tell anyone but Blaine."

She looked up at him as if he was the most wonderful thing in the world. "I love Blaine because, you know, he's the only one who can keep up with me vocally, but I love you too. When you blackmailed me with naked photos of Finn, I knew I had finally found my other show choir soulmate. Did you know I once sent a girl who wanted to try out for the New Directions to a crack house?"

"Oh, thank god, Finn's here." Words Sebastian never thought would come from his mouth. Finn mouthed _Sorry_ as he led a protesting Rachel away with the promise of a duet.

That should be entertaining.

"Are you ok?" Blaine asked as they sat at a table and put their foreheads together to muffle their laughter. "That's the first time you experienced Drunk Rachel."

"At least I didn't make out with her."

Blaine groaned, although he wasn't surprised. "Which one of my lovely friends do I have to thank for you having that particular piece of information?"

"Babe, you should know by now, you have some embarrassing performance in your past, _everyone_ has told me about it." Sebastian decided to ask about the non-kiss thing. He was definitely going to ask why Blaine didn't go any further than sweet pecks on the lips. He was for sure going to find out if Blaine expected him to be the one to real-kiss him first.

"Bas, you're chocking me."

Sebastian didn't realize he had been playing with Blaine's tie. Admittingly, he was a little nervous about asking Blaine about the non-kisses but he was doing it.

Right now.

No more delays…

Oh, who was he kidding? He was totally chickening-out. "I just find it strange that you of all people would wear a tuxedo without a bowtie."

"Why Mr. Sebastian Smythe, do you have a bowtie kink?"

"No…maybe." Absolutely…positively…but never once imagined using them to tie Blaine to his headboard. Maybe blindfolding him…oh, hell!

"You do! Tell me, how many times have you imagined me naked except for a bowtie?" That answer would be none…until now. "And how many times has the bowtie been around my dick?"

"Blaine, we have to talk."

Of course, this would be the time Kurt finally managed to get to Blaine. Sebastian was about to tell him to fuck-off but Blaine could tell and stopped him. "I can do this."

"I know you can but you don't have to. You don't owe him anything."

Blaine gave him one of their (frustratingly) sweet pecks. "Thank you for believing in me."

"I have always believed in you."

"Trust me, I know."

The instant Blaine was beyond the 10 feet away mark, Sebastian found himself surrounded. "Are you sure about this, Seb?" Marley asked.

"It wasn't my decision to make, Goldie." He stood and put his arm around her for reassurance but kept a close eye on Kitty. She looked ready to pounce (no pun intended) at a moment's notice. He felt better when Sam came up from behind and put his hands on her shoulders, basically holding her in place. However, this led to two questions for Sebastian. Why was Kitty so overly protective of Blaine and why was Sam so focused on Kitty and not his girlfriend, Brittany? Santana seemed to be questioning that last fact as well considering Brittany had spent most of the reception with her and Quinn, reuniting the Unholy Trinity.

The most accurate nickname ever given in his opinion.

Across the room, Blaine mentally prepared himself for the conversation. He may have agreed to talk, but that didn't mean he was going to take it easy on his ex. "What do you want, Kurt?"

"I just wanted to talk to you. I've tried all day but someone was always getting in the way."

"And I'm supposed to drop everything and listen? Typical."

"It's not like that."

"Then please explain to me exactly what the fuck it is like because I am beyond tired of this shit." Kurt doesn't answer, seemingly shocked by Blaine's attitude "How's Adam?"

"How did you know…Adam is just a friend. Blaine, you're my boyfriend."

"And they say I'm oblivious." Blaine took a deep breath to control his volume. The two of them were drawing enough attention. "Kurt, the last time you bothered to Skype with me you said we could discuss our status when I'm in New York next month for my NYADA audition. If what I know is true then you were already dating Adam when we had that conversation. We're not boyfriends. And seriously, I want to know, do you honestly think so little of me that you thought I would bring Sebastian fucking Smythe of all people as my date if I thought we were still together?"

"So, you're still going to audition for NYADA?"

"Wow, that's what you got out of what I said?" Blaine looked over his shoulder at Sebastian and unsurprisingly, pretty much everyone except Finn and Rachel who were headed onstage. When he gave them an eye roll to demonstrate his annoyance it appeared to relieve a lot of their tension. "Anyway, unlike some people, I didn't apply to one school. Next month I not only have an audition at NYADA but Julliard and Tisch as well."

"Oh, but NYADA is still your first choice, right? And since you are now friends with Santana, I'm sure she would be more than happy if you stayed with us at the loft. I know Rachel and I would be. I promise I won't bother you unless you want my help with your auditions."

Blaine wanted another drink but he was driving and anticipated leaving in the near future. "No, I won't stay at the loft and I won't be surprised if Santana tries to stay with me, Bas and Artie at Bas' mom's brownstone in Brooklyn while we're there. Before you ask, Bas also has auditions at Julliard and Tisch. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've kept him and my friends waiting long enough." He walked away but Kurt circled around and blocked his path.

"Blaine, I'm sorry…"

"No, you're sorry you got caught. Goodbye Kurt and I mean goodbye for good. I'm sure we'll see each other around since I still plan on going to college in New York and we know a lot of the same people. But, do us both a favor and don't speak to me out of fear of being rude. I promise I won't take offense and you should do the same."

Sebastian had been one second away from going to get him when Blaine started to walk back to their group. The smirk on his face was all the reassurance any of them needed but Sebastian still asked "You ok, Babe?"

"More than… What the hell?"

(Finn) _I know it's late  
I know you're weary  
I know your plans don't include me  
_

Blaine held out his hand and the others tried to act like they weren't watching. "Dance with me."

Sebastian reached out then pulled back. "Are you sure? Drunk Rachel's going to sing and we all know it's going to be hysterical."

"Dance with me."

(Rachel) _Deep in my soul  
I've been so lonely  
All of my hopes now so fading away  
I've longed for love  
Like everyone else does  
I know I'll keep searching after today_

Rachel's words washing over him, Sebastian pulled Blaine tighter. He had been lonely but didn't realize it until Blaine came back into his life and drug Santana, Sam, Artie, Kitty, Goldie and the rest of the New New Directions with him. He didn't want to search anymore. He wanted this life with these people.

He'd even take Drunk Rachel (and Finn) winning the prize for most inappropriately appropriate wedding reception song.

 _We've got tonight  
Who needs tomorrow?  
We've got tonight, babe, why don't we stay?  
_

But as they must, all good thing come to an end. Blaine pulled him down by the lapels and gave him yet another sweet non-kiss. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

Notes:

 _Shape of You_ : Sheeran, Ed; Mac, Steve; McDaid, Johnny; Briggs, Kevin; Burruss, Kandi; Cottle, Tameka 2017 *Note* I am aware this came out several years after canon but didn't care :)

 _We've Got Tonight_ (Glee Cast Version): Seger, Bob 1978


	5. Reality

**Summary:** Blaine and Sebastian continue to get to know each other better as they wait for their "real" date.

 **Notes:** Events from several Season 4 Episodes following 4x14 _I Do_ are mentioned but **not necessarily in the order** they happened in canon.

Please read end notes for details on future chapters.

* * *

It took longer to leave than expected. By the time Sebastian made it to Blaine's car he had exchanged phone numbers, emails and every form of social media information with all members of the New New Directions. He also scheduled Skype time with both Marley and Kitty. While Marley's time centered around a "Blaine mystery" she wanted his help with, Kitty was different. It was like she was testing him to find out if he was trustworthy enough to learn the secret she and Blaine (and most likely Sam) shared. He was ok with that.

The first half of the drive back to Dalton was silent except for the car radio playing cheesy love songs in honor of Valentine's Day. For some reason Sebastian wasn't surprised when Blaine turned up the radio and began to sing along to the cheesiest one of all.

(Blaine) _How can I just let you walk away - just let you leave without a trace?  
When I stand here taking every breath with you, oooo  
You're the only one who really knew me at all_

Oh, what the hell. _  
_ _  
_(Sebastian) _How can you just walk away from me when all I can do is watch you leave?  
'cause we've shared the laughter and the pain, and even shared the tears  
You're the only one who really knew me at all_

A call from Blaine's mom over his Bluetooth interrupted the song which was fine with Sebastian. The part about walking away while the other was in pain and tears hit him in a way he had almost let himself forget.

"Bas, are you ok?"

He hadn't realized he was so far in his head. "Yeah, I was just thinking how I should call my mom." Which wasn't a total lie. He had thought about it at some point that day. "Did your mom want anything in particular? I was trying not to listen."

"Just to check in. Are you sure you're ok?"

Mention the Slushie or deflect? Um…duh, deflect. "I was trying to figure out with all the sappy songs on the radio you chose that particular one to sing to?"

"It was Phil Collins, Bas. He's my absolute favorite guilty pleasure. Well, him and Wham…Stop laughing!"

"No!" Frankly, he couldn't if he tried. It wasn't necessarily Phil Collins, it was the break in the tension he had built up in his head.

That and Blaine was really sexy when he was annoyed.

"Like you don't have a musical guilty pleasure."

"Nope. Sorry, Babe."

"You're lying, Sebastian."

"Uh-oh, you called me Sebastian. Ok, let me think. I guess _Creep_ by Radiohead."

It was a good thing they were already in Dalton's parking lot with as abruptly as Blaine hit the breaks. "You take that back right now, Sebastian Smythe. Radiohead are gods."

Sebastian threw up his hands in surrender…

 _He's running out again,  
He's running out  
He's run run run run_

 _Whatever makes you happy  
Whatever you want  
You're so fuckin' special  
I wish I was special_

"What I meant was 13 year-old me got a lot of pleasure pissing off my father by singing the word _fuck_ at the top of my lungs for most of the summer."

Blaine shut off the car and turned to face him with the smile Sebastian was sure he would haunt his dreams. "I can see that."

The silence returned, both of them smiling at each other but not knowing what to do next. Sebastian decided he had two options, the first being to bring up the non-kiss. He, of course, went with option two. "Goldie asked me to look into something for her but I already know the answer."

"Intriguing. Just what do you think you know?"

"I know we go to a diner every Wednesday that none of the Warblers remember you ever mentioning but was supposedly your favorite. I know you make sure we always get the same waitress and insist on leaving the tip. And I know Jake's mom was suddenly able to afford the extra dance classes she said she couldn't…what are you smiling about you Cheshire Cat?"

"You like them and not because they're my friends. They're your friends too. All of the New New Directions, not only Sam, Artie and surprisingly Marley and Kitty."

"Yeah. So?"

"Nothing. I think it's great."

Sebastian knew there was more but let it go. The sun was beginning to set meaning this perfect day was over. "I better go in."

"You should." Blaine said the words but grabbed his hand and wouldn't let go. "Thank you for doing this for me, Bas. I don't know if I could have…"

"Stop." It was jarring to watch Blaine let doubt take over. He hadn't seen this happen in a while but before they had gone into the reception Blaine admitted he was _at_ _98%._ It's why, no matter how it felt, today was a fake date. Why they would take another 2 weeks of getting to know each other before having a real date.

It's why Blaine didn't kiss him.

For the first time it was Sebastian who leaned in and gave the short, sweet peck. "You were amazing. Now, I'm going in but I have a favor to ask before I go."

"Yes, I gave Jake's mom the money."

"Not that, although you might want to talk to Goldie because she's not going to let it go. I wanted to ask if you could wear a bowtie when we have our Skype date tomorrow night."

Blaine's smile returned as he let go of Sebastian's hand. "Maybe."

An hour later Sebastian had given a full run-down of the non-wedding/reception to Trent (he could tell the others), showered and was getting ready to start on his history paper when his phone began to ping…and ping…and ping. The first 7 texts were members of the New New Directions (they definitely needed a different name) making sure he hadn't given them a bogus number. Next was Marley (oops, got to change her name) saying Blaine told her about Jake but she promised not to say anything.

He almost wet himself laughing at Sam's message saying Drunk Rachel was at the Hudson-Hummel's demanding he give her Sebastian's number. Evidently it was pissing off Hummel. That should be fun when they're back in New York.

After what Sam wrote, Santana trying to convince him to let her stay at the brownstone wasn't a big surprise. He had made the mistake of telling her it would be his when he graduated. When he was younger it upset him that his parents got back at each other by one-upmanship in attempts to buy his favor. This time it got him a brownstone in Brooklyn so he wasn't going to complain. He just needed to figure out a way to get his mom to redo the downstairs bathroom for Artie.

Note to self…convince Artie to move in with you (and hopefully Blaine) when he's accepted to film school.

There was only one text after Santana's.

 _From Blaine: In 2 weeks, I am going to kiss you for real and it will be spectacular._

Oh…wow.

 _From Sebastian: Spectacular? You have a lot of faith in yourself Anderson  
_ _From Blaine: I have a lot of faith in us  
_ _From Blaine: And Bas, my name is Babe_

If the fake date was perfect, the next 12 days were 1,000 steps beyond that. The first week centered around the New Directions getting ready for Regionals. The first thing that happened was a problem with the venue in Indianapolis so the event was moved to McKinley causing extra grief for Schuester who was already on edge after being dumped at the altar. Blaine didn't say anything but that didn't mean Sebastian didn't hear about how he and Schuester got into it about performing one of Marley's original songs. He was half-way to McKinley when he got a call from Artie saying the advisor had apologized.

Wednesday's diner date was a bit awkward. Jake's mom had finally figured out who they were. No one told her, she had just put together pieces of conversations overheard between Jake and "his friends". After thanking Blaine profusely yet again, she made him promise to stop leaving tips.

But Sebastian didn't promise anything.

A huge surprise happened Friday when Wes Montgomery unexpectedly arrived at Dalton. He had been on a dig site in Egypt for the past 8 months as part of his Archeology degree. Sebastian marveled as he watched the Warblers who participated with Hunter being shamed to the brink of tears (hell, Thad cried like a baby). It was a much different meeting than the day he had been introduced to Blaine's mentor…a week after Slushie-gate.

As part of their penance for _besmirching the Warblers' good name,_ Wes made them attend Regionals and sit in the audience wearing their uniforms (Sebastian and Trent were excused). Blaine was ecstatic to see him. They had hit a rough patch when Blaine left Dalton but had worked through it. He was more concerned with Wes' opinion of Sebastian. Thankfully, Wes understood while Sebastian technically threw the Slushie and took full blame, it was not entirely his fault. There was enough blame to go around.

The New Directions performed last and Sebastian was on his feet from the moment they were announced. When he realized the duet Blaine and Marley were singing was the song Marley wrote, he thought his heart would burst with pride. They were incredible and if the judges didn't see it then they were a bunch of fucking idiots.

The wait for the announcement was excruciating. Sebastian never remembered it being this bad even when he was the one performing. But, in the end, there was nothing to worry about. The New Directions were going back to Nationals.

Sebastian had anticipated the following week would drag with the excitement of Regionals and Wes' arrival behind them. Silly boy, he was part of the New Directions world now. He should have known better.

Monday brought the revelation that Finn had kissed the Runaway Bride a couple of days before the wedding. Between Santana's hourly updates of whether Rachel was crying or throwing things and the video of the epic Backstreet Boys/*NSYNC _feud_ he barely had time to finish his homework. Well, he might have had more time if he hadn't had to take a _looooong_ shower after watching the way Blaine could move while tied up.

Tuesday the girls translated the theme of _feud_ into _infighting_ and performed a hilarious version of a Spice Girl's song and dedicated it to him. Part of why it was so funny was because they had 6 members instead of 5 but Sugar said she didn't count because she didn't sing. He had so many comebacks about the actual members of the Spice Girls but he let them go. If that wasn't a sign of how much he had changed, he didn't know what else he could do.

Wednesday brought what was probably (definitely) the biggest shock of Sebastian's life. "What the hell are you wearing?"

"It's a Cheerio uniform" Blaine answered as he slid across the seat in their booth at the diner. "I told you about this."

"You told me you and Sam thought the cheerleading coach was doing some shady shit so Nightbird and the Blond Chameleon were going to look into it. You never said anything about having to wear polyester. Nightbird wears leather pants and an unnecessary cape that covers his amazing ass."

"Amazing ass, huh?"

"Babe, Unique and Mob Princess Barbie made a drinking game out of every time they caught me checking-out your ass at the _We won Regionals_ party. That's why they were drunk in 20 minutes. Now, stop deflecting. What's going on? This doesn't have anything to do with whatever secret there is between you and Kitty?"

"No, although if it did, I couldn't tell you. But I promise, this is just so one of us is on the inside."

Something wasn't sitting right with him but Sebastian didn't want to waste what little time he and Blaine had together. "Ok, I'll let this go on one condition."

"Which is?"

"When we're dating for real, you show me how flexible you are."

"Deal."

The reason Sebastian was so concerned with time was he and Blaine wouldn't talk again until their date on Saturday. He was spending all day Thursday in test prep for his 3 hour AP Biology exam Friday morning. Then he had the sheer joy (sarcasm) of having dinner with his dad and his latest girlfriend Friday night. Marley tried to convince him it was romantic that he and Blaine wouldn't see each other for the 48 hours before their date.

He'd have to trust her on that one.

The test Friday morning wasn't as bad as he anticipated. He had hated it at the time but had to admit the test prep was worth it. Leaving the class room, he turned on his phone to find an insane amount of missed calls and texts but a particular voicemail notification caught his eye. Why would Blaine call him when he knew his phone would be shut off for testing?

 _Bas, I promise it was real. It was always real._

"Sebastian"

His father was standing there…and the Head Master…and Wes…and the Warblers. They all had expressions of forced stoicism except for Wes. He was crying.

That should have been his first clue.

"Son, there was a shooting at McKinley. I'm so sorry."

TBC

* * *

Notes:

Ok, if you've read my stories before, you know I like "cliffhangers". This is a big one. I purposely didn't include warnings (for the first time) due to this so if you are upset…I apologize. I am not going to comment on Blaine's fate so there will be no warnings at the beginning of Chapter 6 either.

 _Against All Odds_ : Collins, Phil 1985

 _Creep_ : Campbell, JR; Hubbard, George; Smith, Bill 1992


	6. Say What You Need To Say

**Summary:** Sometimes there are no answers

 **Notes:** This story has been told mostly through Sebastian's POV but that doesn't happen here until the last 1/3 of the chapter.

This chapter is longer than others but I believe you will understand why.

*Author's Note: Although it is not stated directly, Blaine's family is aware of everything that happened with Sebastian, both past and present

* * *

 **Five Days Later: Dalton Academy Auditorium**

Santana wished she was anywhere else. That the nightmare of the past 5 days would be over and Blaine and Kitty were with their friends in the choir room singing some ridiculous song with the puppets Blaine was making.

Seriously…puppets.

"Tana!"

She began to walk down the aisle to where several of the McKinley contingent were waiting and was almost knocked over when Brittany ran into her arms. As good as it felt to hold her, Santana became annoyed when she noticed a particular someone was missing. "Sweetie, where's Trouty?"

Brittany pulled back and kissed her, not in a best friend's kind of way. "Sam's with Blaine's family, Wes, Seb and Kitty" Brittany said when they finally came up for air. "He told me to go be happy with you. That time is too short and we should be with the one we love. That he knows I love him but I'm in love with you. I am, Santana, I really am."

Santana cursed herself for being pissed with Sam. Of course, he would be with Blaine's family. And the other part, Sam might have said the words but she had a feeling the sentiment came from someone else.

They headed back to the group only to be met halfway by Quinn. "The Evans have arrived and Sam asked if I could look after Stevie and Stacie. They really loved Blaine." She pulled her compact and a tissue from her purse to check her make-up. "Those two angels have gone through too much in their lives. It's not fair."

"Here" Santana reached into a bag then handed Quinn 3 handkerchiefs with _BA_ monogramedin the corner. "Blaine gave me one when he found me crying one day at McKinley…I know, big surprise. I asked his mom if he had anymore so I could give them to some of the girls and she laughed. He had an entire drawer full. Mrs. Anderson gave me most of them and said to give them to anyone who needed one."

"Like she gave all of us New New Directions a bowtie" Brittany said softly as she touched the fabric around her neck. They were all wearing them.

They exchanged hugs before Quinn headed to the Evans and Brittana to their friends. After yet another round of hugs, Santana remembered something Brittany said. "Kitty's here? When did she get out of the hospital? Has she remembered anything?"

"No" Marley told her as she accepted a handkerchief. "Just that Blaine pushed her out of the way. It must have been bad if he pushed her hard enough to break her arm and give her a concussion."

"I still can't believe Anderson pushed her away like that" Puck off-handedly remarked which earned him a slap across the face from Tina.

"Blaine pushed Kurt out of the way to protect him from a Slushie and you can't believe he would push Kitty out of the way of a gun! Oh god, please don't tell Seb…" Mike wrapped his arm around her and led her away mouthing _I've got this_. Jake, Ryder and Joe took Puck aside to (in Jake's words) _Pray he stops saying stupid shit._

With that settled, Santana went further. "Has anyone seen or heard from Sue or Becky? Did they really just disappear…"

"Oh, hell no."

Those with their back to the entrance turned to see what set Unique off. Dressed all in black including hat with huge black feather and dabbing his eyes with a black handkerchief, was an over-emotionally wrought Kurt. Burt said something before he, Carol and the Berrys went to talk with the other political figures (who knew Blaine's dad was _that_ Michael Anderson?) leaving an exasperated Finn and Rachel to handle the drama.

"I thought Cooper specifically told Hummel not to pull this bullshit today" Santana growled. She started to go put a stop to whatever was about to happen when she felt a hand on her arm.

"Let him come" Artie said with a resolve none of them had heard. "I made a promise to Blaine and I plan to keep it."

 _ **Artie took the phone from Blaine's hand, Mr. Schue yelling at him to keep Blaine awake. He prayed Sebastian hadn't heard that. "Yo, Blaine…you've got to stay with me, Dude. Oh, hey, there we go. I can see why Seb can go on and on about the color of your eyes."**_

" _ **Artie, I need…"**_

" _ **Let me get Sam."**_

" _ **No, it needs to be you. You've always been our real leader. Our director. Sam and I may have the crazy ideas but everyone looks to you for approval to go with them."**_

" _ **Blaine…"**_

" _ **Please."**_

 _ **Paramedics (finally) came running into the room and Artie knew there wouldn't be much time. "What do you need me to do?"**_

"But that was _the_ staircase. Blaine took my hand and we ran down _that_ hall."

"Kurt, just stop." Finn hissed before facing the group with an expression which both asked forgiveness and begged for help. "Hi, everyone."

"Finn. Rachel. Kurt, I was there when you were told this was a celebration of life and not a memorial service. The Anderson's specifically requested no black."

"Artie, Blaine…"

"…loved Sebastian."

That was new, although not a surprise. Well, to everyone but Kurt.

"Take…that…back."

"Look Kurt, I promised Blaine I would tell the people he loved certain things, which I won't share, except you weren't one of them. So, this whole grieving boyfriend act doesn't work. I'm sorry to be so blunt because I do know you're hurting, but you were warned by Wes."

A guy they didn't recognized stepped forward from a group of Warblers who had joined them. However, Kurt knew exactly who he was. "Hello, David. It's nice…"

"Don't even try, Hummel. Wes told you not to pull that victim shit again. Now I get to do what he and I should have done 3 years ago and throw your ass out of here."

 _ **Tell Wes none of this is his fault. Tell him to tell David the same.**_

Artie made a mental note to check if that happened.

"What's going on?" Burt Hummel had impeccable timing. After an explanation, he had David and the other Warblers escort him and Kurt to seats at back of the auditorium. It was a compromise, though none of them expected it to work.

Seeing Wes, Sam, Kitty and Sebastian come in was the signal for everyone to find their seats, but before she did Santana had to ask Artie something. "When Blaine told you to tell people things, did he tell Sam to break-up with Britt so we could get back together?"

"Not sharing."

 _ **Tell Sam to stop being an idiot like I was. He needs to let go of Brittany and admit he's in love with Kitty. And if Britt doesn't go running back to Santana, fix that too.**_

So many people had wanted to speak or perform but the Andersons had only chosen a few, placing them in an order that made a timeline of Blaine's life. After they thanked everyone, a children's orchestra Blaine had once been in performed _I Dreamed a Dream_ , a song Blaine would often play for his mom since it was her favorite.

Next was Cooper. With the help of a combination of the McKinley Jazz band, the Dalton orchestra and girls of the New New Directions (minus Kitty) singing back up, he played piano and sang a beautiful rendition of _Ordinary World_ by Duran Duran.

 _But I won't cry for yesterday, there's an ordinary world,  
Somehow I have to find.  
And as I try to make my way, to the ordinary world  
I will learn to survive._

The production was big but the performance was understated yet haunting. It was nothing anyone expected from the over-the-top Cooper Anderson but maybe he wasn't that person anymore. Maybe none of them were.

 _ **Tell Cooper he's the most talented person I ever knew and to remember why he wanted to be a performer in the first place. It wasn't for fame, it was for the joy. And Broadway isn't dead.**_

Wes spoke for the Warblers. He didn't mention why Blaine came to Dalton. Instead, he told the story of the shy, quiet boy who turned into the boy who sung at the top of his lungs while jumping on furniture. A particular story about Blaine crashing through a 100 year old table had everyone wiping tears, but this time through laughter. When he finished, Warblers past and present sang together.

 _Say what you need to say  
_ _Say what you need to say  
_ _Say what you need to say  
_ _Say what you need to say-ay-ay  
_

It didn't go unnoticed that neither Wes or Sebastian joined them.

 _ **Thank Wes for believing in me when I didn't believe in myself.**_

Those who had not been around lately were stunned when Santana took the stage to speak for (last year's) New Directions. Even if he and Kurt weren't together, shouldn't it be Rachel or Finn or Mr. Schue? Santana didn't shy away from it.

"Bet a lot of you are thinking _What the fuck?..._ oops, _heck_. Last year I might have agreed with you but for the past few weeks, Blaine Anderson was one the best friend I ever had…ever will have. But I want to tell you the story of how I, as Brittany likes to say, developed a soft spot for the Acapella Dreamboat."

She told the story of how she was outted. How Finn organized the guys of the New Directions to sing for her. How after Blaine sang _Perfect_ for her and she was a total bitch to him. Her bit of revisionist history earned a minor disruption from the back of the auditorium but it was quickly quashed.

Santana continued with what happened with her Abuela and how it crushed her. "Of course, I turned into an even bigger bitch but Blaine didn't give up on me. Nobody knew but every day he would find me and ask… _Are you happy today_? Seriously, every…fu…dging…day. I'd say _No_ , he'd give me a piece of chocolate and say _Hopefully_ _tomorrow._ Finally, one day I asked _What happens if I say yes?_ He pulled a giant bag of chocolates out of that stupid bag of his and said _I'd give you this because you wouldn't need me anymore."_

She had been wavering for a while before she totally lost it. "I never said _Yes._ Damn it, Blaine! I never said _Yes!"_

Several people stood but by that time Wes was on stage with Santana sobbing in his arms. When she was able to catch her breath, she have him a nod and he signaled the band.

(Wes) _Made a wrong turn, once or twice  
Dug my way out, blood and fire  
Bad decisions, that's alright  
Welcome to my silly life_

(Santana) _Mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood  
Miss "No way, it's all good", it didn't slow me down  
Mistaken, always second guessing, underestimated  
Look, I'm still around_

 _ **Tell Santana she was always Perfect**_

The New New Directions took the stage together. They had never planned on speaking and after Santana they knew they made the right decision. Plus, they had said everything they wanted to at their personal gathering.

(Artie) _Just yesterday mornin', they let me know you were gone  
Blaine, man the plans they made put an end to you  
_

(Sam) _I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song  
I just can't remember who to send it to_

(All) _I've seen fire and I've seen rain  
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end  
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend  
But I always thought that I'd see you again_

 _ **Keep the New New Directions together. This family we made is so special.**_

Once everyone was back in their seats, they braced themselves for the last speaker.

"My name is Sebastian Smythe and I hate everyone in this room, some of you more than others."

Artie looked back to Jake, Ryder and Joe who understood immediately…be prepared to get Sebastian off the stage.

"I hate you, Blaine's family, because you had over 17 years with him. I only had Blaine in my life for 16 months and for most of them we weren't speaking."

"I hate you, Wes, and the rest of the Dalton boys who were given the gift of Blaine Warbler. You got to know the boy who was sex-on-a-stick and sung like a dream. I only got him in videos."

And then…

"I hate you last year's Warblers. You talked me into something and when it backfired made sure everyone knew it was all my fault...especially me."

"I hate you last year's New Directions. You took the worst mistake of my life and made it about yourselves. Was I an asshole? Absolutely, but I hurt _Blaine._ You were the ones who saw his pain as a means to an end to win a show choir competition."

"I hate you Will Schuester. Blaine probably would have been back at Dalton except he felt couldn't abandon the New New Directions like you did."

Tears took over which totally pissed him off. He had cried enough.

"I hate you Hagatha, Britt, Unique, Mob Princess Barbie, Mega Stud twins and Dreads. You didn't have to make him promises to be nice."

"I hate you Goldie because you wrote an amazing song and got to sing it with him for his last competition performance."

"I hate you Kitty because you got his last smile. I know how the two of you were together and have no doubt you were both smiling when you walked into that room."

"I hate you Sam because you were his best friend. You brought out the goofy, geeky side of him I'll never have the opportunity to know."

At this point he found Artie, who nodded knowing what Sebastian would say. They had already discussed it. It was the second worst conversation of his life. "I hate you Artie because you got his last words."

Sebastian clutched his fists and forced himself to take a breath. There was a huge internal debate going on within him. He had left Kurt for the end because he still hadn't decided which way to go. Should he say what he wanted to say or ignore him completely? As with many decisions he had had to make lately, there was never really a choice.

"Then there's you Hummel. Everyone knows I hate you in general but in this moment, I hate you because you were the one who had his kisses…his touch…his passion…his love. All I have is the satisfaction of knowing you'll be tormented forever by the fact that, in the end, he chose me and you have no one to blame but yourself."

Brittany quickly kissed Santana to prevent commentary (or cheering) while Ryder couldn't help but let out a "Burnnnn" under his breath, earning giggles from those around him. The sound of the giggles was loud enough to reach Sebastian. It helped him move on.

"Fortunately, Blaine convinced me I'm not really Sebastian Smythe. I'm Bas, a person who smiles and laughs and has fun with his friends. I like Bas. I want to be Bas. The thing is, I don't know if I can be him without Blaine…I'm sorry, this is where he would correct me and say _Bas, my name is Babe_."

"No" All eyes widened to see Marley standing. "He would have said it like _Baaas, my name is Babe._ "

A few seats down, Sugar stood up. "Your emphasis is wrong. _Ba-as, MY name is Babe_."

"Girl, you're leaving out our man's trademark eye roll" Unique added before performing her impression.

The rest New New Directions, even Kitty, got in their impressions causing the rest of those gathered to break out in hard, uproarious laughter. Sebastian smiled at the scene made by his crazy friends…oh.

It all made sense. Blaine had wanted him to be friends with _these_ people. With Kitty, Marley, Jake, Ryder and Unique, he had no past. Joe's faith made him the most forgiving person he had ever met. Sugar was not far behind, plus her daddy probably had guys working for him that made him look like Joe. Brittany loved Santana which by default meant she had to at least like him. Hagatha (oops)Tina would never like him but would try for Blaine's sake. Sam was all for second chances besides being a genuinely nice guy. And with Artie…Sebastian didn't know why the two of them worked but they did. For the first time he could see the possibility of having a best friend.

To them, he was already Bas.

 _ **Remind Bas he's not alone**_

"Thanks, Babe" Sebastian whispered as he walked over and sat at the piano. As the audience and band got situated, he contemplated explaining his song choice but decided to be selfish and keep the story for himself.

 _How can I just let you walk away - just let you leave without a trace?  
When I stand here taking every breath with you, oooo  
You're the only one who really knew me at all_

 _How can you just walk away from me when all I can do is watch you leave?  
'cause we've shared the laughter and the pain, and even shared the tears  
You're the only one who really knew me at all_

 _So, take a look at me now - well, there's just an empty space  
And there's nothing left here to remind me - just the memory of your face  
Take a look at me now, well, there's just an empty space  
And you coming back to me is against the odds and that's what I've got to face_

 _I wish I could just make you turn around - turn around and see me cry  
There's so much I need to say to you - so many reasons why  
You're the only one who really knew me at all_

Sebastian closed his eyes and transported himself back to Blaine's car. It was as if Blaine had been waiting to join in.  
 _  
So take a look at me now, well, there's just an empty space  
And there's nothing left here to remind me - just the memory of your face  
Now, take a look at me now 'cause there's just an empty space  
But to wait for you is all I can do and that's what I've got to face  
Take a good look at me now 'cause I'll still be standing here  
And you coming back to me is against all odds - it's the chance I've got to take_

With the last word, Sebastian found himself back in the auditorium. He knew he hadn't actually been singing a duet but without the presence of Blaine the ending felt…final.

Like a goodbye

 _Take a look at me, now_

 _ **Tell Bas I'll be watching**_

* * *

Notes:

 _Ordinary World_ : Cuccurullo, Warren; Le Bon, Simon; Rhodes, Nick; Taylor, John 1993

 _Say (Glee Version)_ : Meyer, John 2008. _Say_ was sung at the end of Episode 4x18 _Shooting Star_

 _Perfect (Glee Version)_ : Martin, Max; Moore, Alecia; Schuster, Johan 2010

 _Fire and Rain (Glee Version)_ : Taylor, James 1970. I purposefully tried not to use songs from _The Quarterback_ but I couldn't get past this one.

 _Against All Odds_ : Collins, Phil 1985

While I tried to keep the canon events I referenced between Episodes 4x11 and 4x23, the puppets were in Episode 5x07 _Puppet Master_.


	7. Living In A New Reality

**Summary:** 15 months later, Sebastian is ready to move on…until he hears a familiar song.

 **Notes: Flashbacks are in bold for text and** _ **bold italics**_ **for dialogue.**

 _Thu…ump_ equals the sound of one heartbeat

* * *

 **15 Months Later…Florence, Italy**

"Damn it, when I told Joe to get a little jungle fever on his mission trip, I didn't mean an actual jungle fever to where he would have to chop off his dreads. Is he going to be ok?...Good. What about Coop?...Was he able to get me a ticket for opening night?...Yeah, I know. Stupid question, but from everything I've heard, Hamilton is already the hardest ticket on Broadway to get and the frickin' show hasn't opened yet. Has any of the rest of the Fam figured out I'm coming?...Satan, you can keep the secret for another week. I want to surprise them at Nationals…Would it really be a three-peat? That Jean-Baptist guy was a dick but we all know he wasn't too far off when he said they gave us the trophy out of sympathy…We were all on the verge of tears through all three songs and both Kitty and Tina cried through the Katy Perry number…Satan…Santana, I've got to go or Christian will take my phone and smash it. Oh, Rachel news?...Uh-huh…Uh-huh…Really?...Ok, kiss Britt for me and tell Artie I'll talk to him later…Love you too. Bye."

Sebastian ended the call and put his phone in his pocket. "If you yell at me, I won't tell you what Santana told me about Rachel."

"Bastian, we have been in Florence for 2 days and you have spent the majority of them on the phone with the Fam."

Along with Sebastian, three others (Santana, Wes and Cooper) joined the group of friends based in the New New Directions. They had to come up with a new (and easier) moniker and settled on the Fam, which was of course short for family. Blaine always said they were one. Then following graduation, Sebastian's parents offered him a gap year of travel. Yes, both parents…together. The Fam encouraged him to take them up on the offer so he did, and it was the best thing he could have done.

If he would have gone straight to New York, everything would have been a reminder of what he and Blaine would never have. It wouldn't allow him to move on. Here, a year later, he was at a point where he was ready to try…almost.

"They keep calling because Blaine's birthday is…was in a few days."

"Before or after your return?"

"Day of?" Christian tilted his head and cocked his eyebrow in a manner Sebastian found eerily familiar. "I thought it was a good day for a 9 hour flight."

"To sit in solitude and wallow?"

"To legally drink a bottle of wine for the last time in 2 years then sleep."

"Bastian…"

"Chris, one milestone at a time."

"Fine." Christian stood from the bench and threw the last of his bread to the birds who had pestered him while he waited. He linked his arm in Sebastian's and began to walk. "Let's go. The restaurant opens in 30 minutes. You can tell me what Santana told you about my future wife along the way."

There was no way in hell Christian was marrying Rachel. Not only would Sebastian never allow that woman in his family but "You, my dear cousin, are the gayest gay man in the history of gay. Why in the name of our insane trust funds would you want to marry Rachel Berry?"

"I can't help that I find her fascinating. First of all, she's already in a platonic non-binding gay-straight marriage with he who shall not be named. I could save her from that hell. And now that she quit NYADA only to be summarily fired from her Broadway play, she'll have plenty of time to sit and drink martini's all day with me. According to you, Drunk Rachel is the best Rachel."

"What about sex?"

"She can occasionally fly back to the bean farm…"

"Lima."

"And have trysts with the high school boy…"

"College student, Finn"

"Cheating on me like she did with her last lover…"

"Brody"

"While I sample what New York has to offer. We should have an understood annulment excuse, just in case. I've had my fill, pun intended, of the boys here in Italy."

"And France, and England, and…"

"Well, at least I haven't taken a vow of chastity." Christian stopped abruptly, almost tripping them both. "Oh, Bastian…"

"No, you're right. I know we weren't together when Blaine di…went away but it still feels like I would be cheating on him. Not in a whatever arrangement you would have with Rachel kind of way."

"You and Blaine were together. Tina made that video… _Seblaine, a love for all times_ to prove it. I still can't listen to Ed Sheeran without welling up."

"Yeah, she used _Thinking Out Loud_ because we sang Ed…" Something wasn't right. "How did you know about the video?"

"Darling, I have been a member of the Fam for months. Did you honestly believe they blindly accepted your cryptic _I'm fine_ 's?" Christian showed Sebastian his call history which was almost identical to his. How had he hidden this all these months? "I've been in constant contact with them since Arthur returned to America. And I swear by the god of Gucci, I spoke with no one of your impending return unless they were already aware of you impending return."

"Artie flew over with me and then left a week later." Sebastian couldn't decide if he was heart-warmed or annoyed by the fact everyone felt the need to check up on him. He was pretty sure he would eventually get to heart-warmed. "Thank you for doing that for them."

"Anything for the people my favorite cousin…"

"Only cousin"

"Probably loves more than he loves me." Before Sebastian could protest, Christian stopped him. "Now, with that settled, we really should hurry. Plus, you still owe me the news of my beloved."

Sebastian couldn't help but notice there was more of an urgency to their pace than before. "I will tell you everything I know about Miss Rachel Berry but first, what the hell is it with you and this fucking restaurant? Why do we have to eat there tonight? We have 3 more days in Florence."

"Oh child…"

"I'm 8 months older than you"

"Their Papardelle al Cinghiale is widely renown as the best in all of Florence, if not the world."

"All this fuss for wild boar pasta?"

" _Papardelle al Cinghiale_ , Bastian. This tiny, what Americans call _hole-in-the-wall_ , has done the same thing for 100 years, even…through…war. From March thru November, for the first 5 days of the month, the restaurant closes and the family goes and actually _kiiiillls_ a _boooaaar_. Starting on the 6th, they serve their usual menu while they roast the pig and develop the sauce. Then the last day of the month they serve only the Papardelle al Cinghiale. You don't want to know what I had to do to ensure us a table."

No, Sebastian was sure he didn't but he was glad for whatever it was when he saw the crowd outside. There was no way this place sat more than 50 people at a time and there had to be at least 200 standing around. He reached for his phone to take a picture but Christian stopped him.

"No phones, in fact, turn it off. The owners say since they put so much attention into making the meal, diners must show appreciation by putting just as much attention into eating it. If they don't, they will be thrown out and barred for returning. Quick-quick, our table is ready and I refuse to allow you to deny me my Rachel update one moment longer."

 _When you were here before_

Sebastian stopped, hearing the lyrics of the far too familiar song coming from inside the restaurant. _  
_

 _Couldn't look you in the eye_

Christian knew Sebastian's expression. It was his _I've been hit by a Blaine memory_ face. "I'll go get the table. You've got 15 minutes before I send someone to get you." _  
_

 _You look like an angel_

What his cousin couldn't know was how much this sounded like Blaine. Hearing what could be mistaken for his voice brought on a flood of memories.

 _Your skin makes me cry_

 _ **Are you a freshman?**_

 _You float like a feather_

 _ **Sebastian, of course it was you**_

 _In a beautiful world_

 _ **Ok, but if we do this, we do it right. We go as a couple, complete with pet names and all the PDAs. Kissing, hand holding…no, your hand would be on my ass…**_

 _You're so very special_

 _ **If we were to take the word fake out of this, I'd be all in. It wouldn't be dating to me. It would be everything.**_

 _I wish I was special_

 _ **And despite you saying in the past you don't do boyfriends, I really think you could and would be amazing**_.

 _But I'm a creep_

 _ **That guy was the anomaly. This you? This is the you I always saw.**_

 _I'm a weirdo.  
_

 _ **Why Mr. Sebastian Smythe, do you have a bowtie kink? And how many times have you imagined me naked except for a bowtie**_

 _What the hell am I doing here?_

 _ **In 2 weeks, I'm going to kiss you for real and it will be spectacular**_

 _I don't belong here._

 _ **Bas, I promise it was real. It was always real**_

 _Oh_

 _ **Like you don't have a musical guilty pleasure.**_

 _Oh_

 _ **Ok, let me think. I guess**_ _ **Creep**_ _ **by Radiohead**_

Thu…ump

Wait…what?

Thu…ump

 _He's running out,_

The pronoun. Did I change the pronoun in the car?

 _He's run-un-un_

 **Sebastian threw up his hands in surrender…** _ **He's running out**_

 _He's running out_

I changed it.

 _He's run_

Oh my god, I fucking changed it.

 _Run_

Past Christian

 _Run_

Past a waiter

 _Run_

Up some stairs to a loft, or indoor balcony, open to the dining room below

 _Run_

Past a guy yelling in Italian

 _Oh_

In the back, non-visible to the diners

 _Oh_

A guy is playing the piano

 _Whatever makes you happy_

Dark, curly hair

 _Whatever you want_

Full, but neatly trimmed beard

 _You're so very special_

Glasses attempting to disguise eyes Sebastian would know anywhere

 _I wish I was special_

Eyes shining with excitement

 _But I'm a creep,_

To eyes questioning reality

 _I'm a weirdo_

To eyes widening in fear _  
_

 _What the hell am I doing here?_

To eyes begging for understanding _  
_

 _I don't belong here.  
_

 _I don't belong here._

Sebastian forced himself to say the word but wasn't sure if the guy at the piano could hear it over the sound of his heartbeat "Blaine."

Thu…ump

Thu…ump

Thu…ump

"Bas, my name is Babe."

TBC in Jan 2019

* * *

 **Notes:**

Papardelle al Cinghiale is a wide, flat pasta made with a wild boar ragu. It was included on several lists of _Foods_ _to Try in Florence, Italy_

You will find out next chapter, Cooper will play King George III in Hamilton. Fun fact, the role was actually originally portrayed by Jonathon Groff (Jesse St. James) for which he earned a Tony nomination.

 _Creep_ : Campbell, JR; Hubbard, George; Smith, Bill 1992. I based Blaine's performance on the Brian Justin Crum performance on America's Got Talent (July 2016). If you haven't seen it and are a fan of a song, go to YouTube. I know Rachel & Brody sang the song on the show and I did like the back half of it. However, if the writers were going to f*** Blaine up by making him "whiny & depressed" anyway, this would have been better. Rant over.


	8. Love Is The Only Truth That Matters

**Summary:** Sebastian gets some unexpected help to deal with the fact Blaine is still alive.

 **Notes:** Imagine any conversation Sebastian has (except with Blaine or by text) to be in Italian. I can see him speaking fluently while the others would not be able to do the same in English.

Song lyrics were changed to fit the story.

Happy 2019

* * *

Sebastian watched Blaine gather papers strewn across the room, still in disbelief from the events of the past 10 minutes. Once he admitted who he was, Blaine grabbed his hand and lead him back down the stairs and across the street to this tiny apartment. "It was my bisnonna's place" he explained "But she's 92 and more than a little senile so they moved her to the main house and I moved here for some privacy at least that's what my uncle said but I don't sleep well and play my guitar at night… oh god, I'm rambling. Do you want something to drink, Bas?"

"Sebastian"

The correction was abrupt and brought Blaine's fidgeting to an end. A staring contest took over only to be interrupted when Sebastian received a text.

 _From Christian: WTF? Was that…?  
From Sebastian: Don't say anything to ANYONE. I mean it.  
From Christian: Holy Shit!  
From Christian: Are you ok?  
From Christian: Stupid question  
From Sebastian: Not ok but haven't really talked  
From Christian: Then get to it_

"Is everything alright?"

"You did not just ask me that?" For half a second Sebastian thought of calling Artie or Sam or Coo…damn. "Cooper's a better actor than I gave him credit for."

"He doesn't know."

Sebastian felt his legs give out but fortunately there was a chair behind him. How could Cooper not know? Wait… "This was your great-grandmother's apartment? You're living with family and Cooper doesn't know? Do your parents?"

"My parents brought me here. Bas…Sebastian, you can't tell Coop or anyone else." Blaine's voice cracked when he added "Not even your boyfriend."

"My…oh, not a boyfriend. The guy I was with is my cousin, Christian."

Blaine's face flooded with relief then, just as quickly, sheer panic. "Did he recognize me?"

Though they had never met, of course, Christian would recognize Blaine. Sebastian had 3 framed pictures which set on his bedtable in every hotel they stayed in. First was him and Wes with Blaine and the rest of the New New Directions after they won Regionals. Then, him and Santana singing _Smooth Criminal_ at the non-wedding reception with Blaine playing cello. The third was his favorite. It was him and Blaine at the reception, sitting with their foreheads pressed together, lost in conversation…both with big, dopey grins. Marley, who had taken the picture, titled it _Obliviously Smitten_.

But this Blaine in no way resembled the one Christian saw in the photos.

It wasn't the long, wild curls or the glasses or even the beard. Ok, maybe the beard if you noticed it covered gaunt cheeks and a pale complexion. He had lost weight, a lot judging by the way his clothes hung, and he looked tired…no, exhausted.

And he was still the most beautiful thing Sebastian had ever seen.

"Yes, but Chris won't say anything if that's what you're worried about."

Blaine let out an audible breath and seemed to relax…a little. "I realize you have no reason to but I need you to trust me. I'm so close…"

It was the absolute wrong thing for him to say

"How? How am I supposed to trust you, Blaine? I was there when the doctor came into the waiting room and said they did everything they could. I went with Artie and your parents to Kitty's hospital room to tell her and Sam…Holy shit, your parents lied right to our faces."

"I'm sorry, so sorry but I'm so close…"

"Then tell me what the fuck is going on. You keep saying you're so close. Close to what?"

"I can't." Sebastian stood and headed toward the door. "24 hours" Blaine blurted out. His voice wavered but he didn't backtrack. "Give me 24 hours and I'll…I'll tell you everything. Please."

The plea gave him pause, causing Sebastian to tightened his hold on the doorknob. It was the only thing keeping him from turning around, scooping Blaine into his arms and agreeing to give him all the time in the world.

"I'll be back in 24 hours. Don't make me regret it."

When Sebastian got outside, he sent Christian a text stating he was going to take a walk to clear his head. Two hours of aimless wandering later he had to admit he was completely lost.

"I've been waiting for you."

Sebastian turned to see an elderly woman sitting on a bench. She resembled every cliché an American tourist would think of when describing a rural, Tuscan grandmother (despite being in a city of 400,000). "Excuse me, I think you've mistaken me for someone else."

"No, Sebastian, I know exactly who you are. Come sit beside me."

His choices were get the hell out of there or join her. Curiosity won out. "You know my name?" he asked as he sat down.

"Yes, and you may call me Gigi." There was no explanation, instead she scooted closer and linked their arms. "It's almost time."

"For what?"

"To listen."

Gigi motioned to an open window on the top floor of the building across from them. Sebastian finally recognized where he was. The open window was Blaine's.

He could clearly hear an acoustic guitar and Blaine's voice but the words were muffled. Gigi tightened their arm link then reached across to place her free hand on his chest. "You won't hear his words if you listen with your ears. You must listen with your heart." Things were getting beyond a little weird, but her hand was calming and all outside noises faded away except one.

 _I won't give up on us, even if the skies get rough  
I'm sending you all my love, I'm still looking up_

 _And when you're needing your space, to do some navigating  
I'll be here patiently waiting, to see what you find_

 _'Cause even the stars they burn  
Some even fall to the earth  
We've got a lot to learn  
God knows we're worth it  
_

 _No, I won't give up_

Blaine won't give up? Blaine will wait _for him_? He had waited literally years for Blaine…through Hummel and Slushie-gate and months of being the bad guy and _No Thanks_ and steroids and (understandable) insecurities and fake dating and fake _DEATH._ Why couldn't Blaine just tell him the truth?

"My darling boy, he is telling you the truth. He's sending you his love and love is the only truth that matters."

Whatever was going on between him and Gigi had just entered the realm of bat-shit crazy because he was certain he hadn't asked his questions aloud. Sebastian carefully separated their arms and stood to leave. "It was a pleasure but I have to go."

He got 10 feet

"You recognized the song, didn't you? The reason you did was because every night since he wrote it, he would take his guitar to an open window and sing. He was sending it out into the universe, praying it would find its way to your heart."

That was enough to get Sebastian to turn around. "You don't know that."

"I do. Your Blaine told me."

That was enough to get him to sit back down. "Blaine told you?"

"Darling boy, he told me everything about everyone…Sam, Kitty, the rest of the New New Directions, Wes, Santana but mostly he spoke of you. He missed you terribly."

The emotional upheaval of the past few hours finally caught up with him. Gigi somehow got him to put his head in her lap and she stroked his hair as he cried. "Then why? Why didn't Blaine let me know he was here?"

"When you found him, he did. As long as he has been playing piano at the restaurant, he only sang on a few occasions and only in Italian. But tonight, the night you were here, he sang in English."

Sebastian let himself get lost in the memory of the two of them in Blaine's car. He had blocked it since he sang _Against All Odds_ at the celebration of life. "It's my guilty pleasure song."

"I know it is. He sings that and _Uptown Girl_ , _Dark Side_ and _Shape of You_ to me all the time. Although my personal favorite is _Glad You Came_."

"Those were songs I sang." Sebastian sat up and marveled at how his 6-foot 2-inch frame had fit across the small bench. He decided it was due to some sort of mystical powers Gigi possessed. Seriously, mystical powers. After the day he had had, why not. "But none of this explains anything."

"Soon, darling boy. He's so close. Now, we don't have much time before my family realizes I am gone. This is what you say."

Gigi was right about not having much time. She has barely finished when 3 men came running toward them, the oldest calling her Mama. Sebastian recognized him from the restaurant and it was clear the man recognized him as well.

"You shouldn't be here."

"Don't blame me because you can't keep track of your mother. I was back to look for my phone when she attached herself to my arm, calling me her Yankee-Doodle lover boy. Evidently, she thinks it's 1944 and either the Fascists or Nazi's had gotten me. I'm assuming you're our son, Antonio." Sebastian smiled across at Gigi expecting her to add a snarky quip, but something was different. "Gigi?"

"Don't call her that" Antonio said as he gently helped her up. "Come along, Mama. Let's get you to bed." The 2 younger men walked over and each took an arm. Once they were a safe distance away, Antonio thanked him for caring for her but "Leave, Sebastian, and don't come back. It's for the best…for everyone."

Not this shit again. "How do you…?" Antonio left, ignoring Sebastian's question but it didn't matter. He was sick of the non-answers which were either partial truths or outright lies. None of this MADE ANY FUCKING SENSE and he wasn't going to wait 24…technically, 21 hours for answers.

He didn't remember running across the courtyard or up the stairs to Blaine's apartment. He barely remembered banging on the door. Seeing Blaine again wiped all that away.

"Sebastian? What…?"

"Not this time." Sebastian pushed Blaine back then shut and locked the door behind him incase any of Blaine's relatives decided to check on him.

"I just had the most surreal conversation of my life, and considering you're supposedly dead, that says a lot. A woman I'm pretty fucking sure was a witch or at least some sort of physic or mystic priestess, told me to listen with my heart and I did. She told me to trust you and I want to but, damn it, I need something real. One thing, Blaine. One thing to prove to me that any of this is real."

Blaine walked out of the room to another and shut the door behind him.

Standing alone, time stood still for Sebastian. He was at a crossroads. If he walked out the door, he wouldn't come back. Not in 24 hours. Not ever.

 _Darling boy, listen with your heart. He already told you everything you need to know._

"Damn it, Gigi! Get out of my fucking…oh." He finally understood what she had been trying to tell him all along. "Thank you, you crazy old witch."

This time he didn't bother to knock and found Blaine sitting on the end of a bed, crying. "Please, just go. I can't give you what you want."

Sebastian responded by holding up his phone… _Bas, I promise it was real. It was always real._

Blaine lifted his head, stunned to hear his own voice. "I…I don't understand."

"Artie told me what you went through to leave me this message but I never got the chance to respond."

"What would you have said?"

"I love you too, Babe."

Their lips met in mid-air before they fell together onto the bed. It was not the first kiss they had dreamed of as boys in Ohio. This was the kiss of men, separated by time and tragedy. However, Blaine had been right about one thing all those months ago.

It was spectacular

But the timing was wrong. "We can't do this" Sebastian groaned, pulling himself away. He turned onto his side, facing Blaine…close enough to talk but far enough to prevent any inadvertent touching. Even though he knew what he did was for the best, the disappointment on Blaine's face was painful to see.

"I know I don't look the same. I…I, my recovery has not…"

"Listen to me." Sebastian took his hand and placed it over Blaine's heart, because according to Gigi that was how the two of them communicated. "No, you aren't the boy with the gelled hair, grey striped sweater, _tight_ highwater pants and bowtie. You are a man, who I am guessing has not only been through hell physically but has been trying to hide in plain sight. My putting the breaks on what was definitely about to happen is because it's not fair to either of us to fall into what we could have been until we talk…a lot. While I can admit I never stopped loving you, that doesn't mean my need for answers has changed."

Blaine returned Sebastian's gesture by placing his hand on his heart. "And I want to give you those answers, more than anything, but…"

"You need time."

"Just 24, or I guess 21 hours. I'm so…"

"Close. So, I've heard" Sebastian sighed. This conversation was entering the familiar loop of questions and non-answers. It was time for him to go. "I'm leaving and I will give you your full 24 hours but Blaine, Babe, please don't disappear on me again. I can't…I won't…"

Blaine leaned over and gave him a sweet, small kiss, just like the ones they used to share. "I promise. I love you, Bas."

Sebastian wanted to believe him but didn't know how to trust him. This big, beautiful, death defying, heart-to-heart speaking love they shared was based on a lie. Fake dating to keep Blaine's ex from bothering him. What if there wasn't enough of a foundation to support whatever answers Blaine finally gave him?

* * *

Notes:

Sorry, your answers will take longer than 24 hours.

 _I Won't Give Up_ : Mraz, Jason; Natter, Michael Lee 2012

Gigi will make another appearance.

For future reference, in Chapter 6, Blaine's father was referred to as " _that_ Michael Anderson" implying he's rich, powerful or most likely both. The fact he is will be important but how he got to be is not so I didn't develop a reason.


	9. Truth or Consequences

**Summary:** Sebastian goes to get the truth. Is he still willing to accept the consequences if he doesn't like what he hears?

 **Notes:** Gigi is back and her identity is revealed. Have an open mind. Speaking of open mind…

Everything from Blaine's explanation with few exception (Sebastian's involvement and, you know, Blaine being shot) comes directly from canon, only arranged to fit this narrative.

As stated in the end notes of last chapter, Chapter 6 refers to Blaine's father was as _that_ Michael Anderson, implying he's rich and extremely powerful. This important to the story. How he got to be (legally or illegally) is not. I'll leave that choice to your imagination.

Reminder: Any conversations with members of Blaine's (Italian) family would be in Italian.

 **Warning: Mentions of gun violence, threats of harm and a near-death experience**

* * *

Christian was pacing in the hotel suite across the hall from the one he shared with Sebastian. The knock he was waiting for stopped him in his tracks. He knew in his heart he had done the right thing. That didn't mean he wasn't scared shitless.

"Ciao, Bella. It's so nice of you to come."

Santana rolled her eyes but did kiss his cheek as she entered the suite. "Like I had a choice. _Santana dear, I'm calling with a Code Black. A car will be picking you up in an hour_ " she delivered in a tone mocking his French accent. "What was so fucking important?"

"I cannot tell you."

Her expression change explained everything he had ever wondered about the oft-mentioned Lima Heights. "Excuse me? I just flew 9 fucking hours, Frenchy. You said Code Black. According to Trouty's emergency system that meant I had to come no questions asked, and I did. I expect answers."

" _I_ cannot tell you. It must be Bastian. However…" Christian walked into the bedroom and waved his arm like a model on a game show. There were racks of designer clothing and bags on the bed with labels such as Gucci, Versace and Louboutin. "I hope you find these acceptable."

"Holy Shit!" Santana went to one rack and began pulling dresses. "When you said not to bother packing, I wasn't expecting Italian Fashion Week to be waiting for me."

"Here is your room key card and the shopper's number. Call her if she forgot something." Christian handed her a small envelope then took her hand. "Thank you for coming. I'll be back as I assume you want a shower. Do you need a nap?"

"I'm good but you're right about the shower." Christian turned to leave but Santana held firm to his hand. "Why did you call me? Artie's Seb's best friend."

Christian shrugged although he remembered the exact moment he knew. "I heard a voice. She said it had to be you."

An hour later the two of them walked across the hallway. When they were in, Christian pointed to Sebastian sitting out on the balcony. "I'm headed back to Paris but I found you some company."

"What do you mean…" Sebastian got up, then froze when he saw who his cousin was referring to. "What the fuck is she doing here? I told you not to fucking tell anyone" he yelled in French to keep Santana out of the conversation.

"I didn't. I called her with one of Samuel's Code Blacks so no questions asked."

"Those are only in cases of fucking life and death."

"Think about what you just said but as _death_ and _life_."

"That's enough!" Santana went to Sebastian and gave him a hug, which he did return. "One of you tell me what's going on. I've learned enough French to know Stretch was dropping f-bombs." When Sebastian left and slammed the bedroom door behind him, Santana looked to Christian but didn't like what she saw. "You're not going to tell me, are you?"

"Sorry, nothing's changed. I'll be back in four days then we can all go back to the Big Apple together."

That was new information. "You're coming to NYC? Since when?"

"Yesterday"

It had been an easy decision. No matter the result of Sebastian's meeting with Blaine, he was going to need him. The rest of the Fam would be dealing with their own emotions. First, he had to go to Paris and settle a few issues, like telling his mother he would not be attending the Sorbonne in the fall. But on a lighter note…"Be ready to assist me in wooing the love of my life, the fabulous Miss Rachel Berry."

"Oh god, I can't wait until you actually meet her and Kurt meets you. He's going to _haaaaaaate_ you."

"I'm sure the feeling will be mutual."

A few more Rachel quips were shared before Christian left and Santana sat on the couch to wait Sebastian out. She was more tired than she thought because the next thing she knew he was waking her. "I'm leaving."

"I'm coming with you." She stood and stretched, happy with the fact he woke her. It would have been easy to leave without saying anything. "Are you finally going to tell me what's going on?"

"I will…after. You can't come with me."

"Seb…"

"Tana, I'm sorry Chris brought you here but I can't tell you, not yet." Sebastian embraced her and wished he could find a way to make her understand. The problem was he didn't understand any of this himself. "Do me a favor. There's a guy named Franco at the concierge who can get his hands on anything. We're going to need alcohol for when I get back…lots and lots of alcohol."

Once he left, it didn't take long to get to Blaine's. Sebastian was surprised to see the courtyard in front so empty until he remembered the restaurant was closed while the family went boar hunting. Was that the reason Blaine wanted to wait 24 hours before telling him what happened?

"I've been waiting for you."

How had he not seen her sitting on the bench? "Gigi"

The elderly woman patted the space beside her "Come sit with me, darling boy."

He thought of protesting but asked himself _What's the point?_ When he was seated, he linked their arms like she had done the day before. For as much as she freaked him out, Sebastian was already very fond of his new friend. "Does your family know you're gone?"

"They will, but that's not important. Love is important."

Sebastian lifted his eyes to Blaine's open window and asked "What if love isn't enough?"

"Just listen to him but listen…"

"…with my heart" he finished for her. He took a deep breath and for the first time felt ready to hear what Blaine had to say.

"Go to him. And give Santana a kiss for me."

As much as he wanted to ask _WTF?_ he decided to add the comment to the growing list of inexplicable events of the past 24 hours. He had to be in the right mindset when he laid eyes on Blaine again.

However, no amount of preparation stopped his heart from nearly beating out of his chest when the door opened.

"Thank you for coming, Ba…Sebastian." Blaine motioned toward a small couch by the infamous window. "Are you hungry? I have some of my family's Papardelle al Cinghiale. I didn't know if you got any yesterday…"

"B, you're rambling and maybe later on the Papardelle al Cinghiale."

"B?"

"I felt it's an acceptable compromise. You can call me Seb or Bastian like my cousin does, if you want to. I know last night…" He wasn't going to say the night before was a mistake, but winding up in bed (even without sex) probably wasn't the best idea. And letting Blaine call him Bas…well, that couldn't happen again. At least not until he had answers.

"No, I get it, Seb" Blaine said, attempting (but failing) to hide the disappointment in his voice with a forced smile.

Sebastian looked closer as Blaine sat on the opposite end of the couch. His appearance had changed from the night before. The glasses were gone, the beard had been neatly trimmed and his clothes were similar to his old style, though they hung from his body. He had put in some effort which Sebastian saw as positive. "You look good."

"You're even more gorgeous than I remembered." It took a moment for Blaine to realize what he said. "Oh god, I'm sorry. I, I'm…I'm just really, really nervous."

From the way he was shaking, Sebastian knew that was a massive understatement. He also knew that had to change or Blaine wouldn't open up. "Did you know I performed with the New Directions at last year's Nationals?"

Blaine let out an audible sigh and relaxed, at least a little. "When I saw the video, I thought the pain meds were making me hallucinate."

Thoughts which had never crossed his mind began flooding Sebastian _You had access to the internet? Facebook, Twitter, email?_ but he didn't want to scare Blaine into silence "Since I didn't take the steroids the Show Choir Association gave me an exemption."

"And you took lead on the Warbler song."

"Jeff said _Raise Your Glass_ was your favorite and the routine was ridiculously easy to learn."

"Hey, the Warbler 2-step is a classic and you wouldn't have thought that if you would have had to teach Puck or Finn."

Blaine was laughing so hard, Sebastian caught a brief glimpse of _his Blaine_. He almost hated doing this. "Yesterday you kept saying _I'm so close_. Close to what?"

Blaine stopped laughing but didn't shrink back into himself. The diversion had worked. "Going home…to the States, to New York, to Cooper, to my friends, to…"

Three letters, Y-O-U. Three letters Blaine couldn't say because he was afraid of the response, but Sebastian understood. "I think you better start at the beginning."

"Ok" Blaine moved back and pulled his knees into his chest, an obvious defensive measure. "Becky didn't shoot me, Sue did."

For the first time Sebastian believed someone's eyes could pop out of their sockets because he was sure his had. Seriously, what the fuck? Becky accidently shooting Blaine as Sue tried to take the gun from her was the one truth Sebastian thought he knew. "Was it an accident?"

"No"

Sebastian sprung up and ran down a small hall, thankful he found the bathroom before he began to vomit. When he finally collected himself, he went back to the living area to find Blaine offering him a bottle of water. "Are you ok?"

"Not even close" he answered truthfully, taking the bottle and sitting down. "Do your parents know? Do the police know? Does Becky know? I mean she's got to know but seriously B, what the fuck?"

"My parents and the police know, so does Figgins, the School Superintendent and to some point, Burt Hummel." Blaine waited for a reaction but Sebastian motioned for him to continue. "Becky's parents also know. Despite the extenuating circumstances, Becky brought a gun to school. There was no choice but to expel her. Artie had taken her to visit a program at Ohio State and my dad pulled a few strings to get her accepted early. She felt comfortable there. And as for her knowing, she wasn't in the room. Did Kitty ever remember anything?"

Blaine seemed to be well informed about what happened during the time he was gone, but he didn't know about Kitty? "Nothing between you pushing her and waking up in the hospital. You pushed her pretty fucking hard."

"I had this horrible, sinking feeling watching Sue get the gun away from Becky. I just wanted her out of the way. When she fell and hit her head, Sue sent Becky to go get help. The next thing I remember is indescribable pain, Mr. Schue yelling about an ambulance and having Artie call you."

"To tell me what you felt for me was real."

"I'm sorry it took me so long to tell you."

Sebastian didn't know if Blaine's admission made what he was feeling better or worse, especially since he still didn't have the answers to the biggest questions. "But why?"

"Why did it take me so long to admit I had feelings for you all along? Even when I was still with Kurt?"

Sebastian Alexander Smythe, who had a quick retort for everything, was officially speechless.

Blaine looked disappointed there wasn't a response, yet understood and reluctantly moved on. "I talked with my parents last night, it's one of the reasons I asked for 24 hours. I told them I planned to tell you everything. But Seb, if I tell you, you can't tell anyone, at least not yet."

Sebastian thought of Santana back at the hotel but decided _one bridge at a time_. "I'm listening."

 _With your heart, darling boy._

Was it odd hearing Gigi in his head no longer freaked him out?

Again, Blaine took a deep breath but it wasn't for calm. It was for strength. "Remember when I told you why I rejoined the Cheerios?"

"Yes, because you and Sam thought Sue was up to something shady."

"Right. And remember how I returned?"

"You purposefully lost a Feud sing-off."

"Two for two. What I didn't know was she had back-up plans. One was an attempt to ruin my parents' credit."

"And she clearly had no idea your dad was _that_ Michael Anderson." Sebastian always wondered how Blaine kept his dad's identity secret at McKinley. Then again, he had been able to hide Cooper for a long time from super-fanboy Kurt. Wait a minute…"She shot you because she was afraid of your dad? That doesn't make sense."

"Like I said, no one knows. My dad got an alert from his accountant about suspicious activity, which he had traced back to Sue, while I was in surgery. Dad told the authorities but also had his own guys look into it. By the end of the day they had found everything Sam and I expected. She had embezzled funds from the district, was blackmailing Figgins and others with fabricated evidence…you get the drift. But none of that came close to the level of bat-shit crazy Becky showed them."

"Becky?"

"Her parents and the authorities told her Sue hurt me but not that I was shot. She didn't deserve to live with the guilt of bringing the gun. Well, Becky always had a soft spot for Gay Blaine. She declared Sue was no longer her friend and told them about a storage unit. Sebastian, it wasn't a storage unit. It was a hurt locker."

"I don't understand."

"There were hundreds of pictures of Mr. Schue and members of the New Directions, past and present, with detailed plans on how to quote/unquote ruin each of them. My dad said it was totally bizarre especially…"

Sebastian became unnerved when he felt a chill blast through him. "Especially?"

"A hidden room devoted to her undying love for Klaine. There were close to 1,000 photos including ones of Kurt and I at Dalton and a video playing of Kurt and I wearing tuxedos, dancing in a dreamlike _Moulin Rouge_ set while singing _Come What May_ , which obviously never happened. She also had mannequins, with cut-outs of mine and Kurt's faces, dressed for our wedding. This was when Burt Hummel was brought in. But Seb, that wasn't the most disturbing thing."

Blaine turned to the side table and picked up a file. When Sebastian opened it there was a picture of the two of them with Jake's mom at the diner. His face was crossed out in red marker. "She knew about the diner?"

"My parents and the authorities didn't know what to do about this level of crazy. They feared not only for me but you and anyone else she might have perceived as keeping me and Kurt apart."

Sebastian sat down the file before he vomited again. "Then why did she shoot _YOU_?"

"That's the part I can't tell you. Did she find out Sam and I were investigating her? Was she afraid of what she did before she found out my dad was _that_ Michael Anderson? Did she think if Kurt couldn't have me no one could? No one knows. That's when my parents shipped me here to recover and told everyone I died. The authorities thought it would give her a false sense of security and draw her back since everyone assumed Becky shot me."

He'd comment on how stupid that was later. "But when it didn't happen, why didn't they say something?"

"I got an infection doctors didn't think I'd recover from. My parents thought it would be cruel to tell everyone I didn't die only for me to actually die. I obviously didn't but for eight months it was really bad." Blaine's tone was almost pitiful as he stood and waved his arm down his body. "As you can see, my recovery hasn't been much better."

Though he didn't have all his answers, the walls Sebastian built to protect his heart came crashing down. "You are still the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

Sobs wracked Blaine's small frame so Sebastian scooped him onto his lap and held him close as they cried together. It was almost an hour before Blaine confessed "I would make up stories about you finding me and tell them to my Bisnonna. I told you she has dementia, right?"

"Yeah, you said this had been her place."

"In the early days of my recovery I couldn't do much. Telling her stories helped calm her, which my family appreciated, and gave me a reason to get out of bed. I told her hundreds of them but it wasn't just you. I included Santana, Wes, Sam and all the New New Directions…"

"The Fam."

"What fam?"

"When the New New Directions adopted me, like you knew they would, they also took in Santana, Wes, Cooper and later my cousin, Christian. The name changed to the Fam."

"I'm glad Cooper was included."

"He's not going to forgive your parents."

"Good, because I haven't forgiven them for taking me away from everyone I…" Blaine sat up, stared into Sebastian's eyes and gave into his feelings. "Everyone I love. Especially you, Sebastian. I know you said last night you did too but…"

"B…"

"Seb, I need you to hear this. Since I've been well enough to make my own decisions, I've chosen to remain in hiding. My dad had investigators all over the world trying to find Sue but she was a ghost. Her parents might have not been the Nazi hunters she claimed but they were experts at both world travel and staying off the grid. With the stuff in that locker, and no explanation for why she shot me…I was afraid, if she knew I was alive, she'd go after one of you in an attempt to find me."

The outpouring of truth overwhelmed Sebastian. "I'm supposed to go back to NYC in less than a week. I can't keep this from the others."

"You won't have to. When I kept saying _I'm so close_ it was because they had found Sue. Yesterday, when I called my parents to tell them you were here, they told me she was in custody. Some cosmic force saw fit to have you find me at the exact moment I was freed from my nightmare. My parents will be here tomorrow to try to figure out a way to bring me back from the dead."

Sebastian kissed him with an intensity that made the kiss they shared the night before seem like the sweet pecks they shared at Will Schuester's non-wedding reception. When they parted, he put their foreheads together. "I know it will be hard but I'll be with you through all of it. I can't promise I won't go off on your parents."

"I would expect nothing less from Sebastian Smythe."

"Babe, my name is Bas."

The variation on _Bas, my name is Babe_ brought back Blaine's tears, but this time happy ones. It was probably the one thing Sebastian could have said to make Blaine believe him. "I love you, Bas."

"I love you, Babe. By the way, that cosmic force of yours has a name, Gigi." An expression of utter confusion was not what Sebastian expected. "What's wrong?"

"How do you know Gigi?"

"She's the woman I told you about yesterday."

"That's not possible. Gigi is what I call my Bisnonna, g…g for great grandmother. I'm the only one who does this because I'm the only one who speaks English. Bas, she not only has dementia, she doesn't talk unless she's talking about…"

"The American soldier she met during World War II who may or may not be your uncle's father?"

Before Blaine could form the words, there was a frantic knock on his door. He opened it to a woman who must have been one of his aunts. "I'm sorry, Blaine. She wouldn't calm down until I said I'd bring her here."

"No, this is perfect timing." Blaine opened the door wider and offered his arm to a frail, older woman Sebastian recognized immediately.

And she recognized him

Blaine and his aunt were completely flabbergasted watching Gigi shuffle to Sebastian, linking their arms as they sat together on the couch. While the two of them smiled at each other, Blaine's aunt remembered the bag she was carrying. "She…she, um, wanted you to have this."

"Chocolates?" Blaine stared into the cloth bag full of dozens of individually wrapped candies. "I don't understand.

Sebastian did. "He told you the story of Santana and the chocolates, didn't he?"

Gigi reached across and patted his cheek but her only response was "Darling Boy."

 **2 Hours Later**

"Tana, I'm back."

The sound of Sebastian's voice woke her. She had fallen asleep, again, but who could blame her? The bed in this 5-star hotel was the most comfortable thing she had ever laid on.

When she entered the living area of the suite, it was dark. Why hadn't he turned on the light?

"Hi." It wasn't Sebastian standing before her. "Are you happy today?"

Santana braced herself on an end table. She hadn't heard the question in almost 2 years. "I don't know how to answer. If I say no, it will be a lie because if you are you…if you are Blaine, I don't know if I've ever been so happy in my life. But if I say yes, you'd have say I don't need you anymore and that would be the lie."

Blaine reached into the bag Gigi brought him and pulled out a candy. "There are 100 pieces of chocolate in here. How about if you say yes but I just give you one piece for the next 100 days?"

"What if 100 isn't enough?"

"I'll give you as much as you want. If you'll let me."

Sebastian, who had been standing in the shadows, moved next to Blaine. "He's real Tana. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you before."

"Just shut up." Santana ran into Blaine's arms, almost knocking him over. "You look like hell."

"I missed you too."

* * *

 **Notes:**

Despite Becky's Down Syndrome, bringing a gun to school would have gotten her expelled and not a 30-day suspension. _Glee_ took a lot of liberties with school policies (don't get me started on how they didn't win Nationals) but this is a zero tolerance mandate throughout the US.

For those of you who choose to ignore Season 6, Becky showed the Superintendent the "Hurt Locker" when Sue was mean to Gay Blaine and wouldn't let the Warblers join the ND after the fire at Dalton. Sorry, for the bad memories.


	10. Was It?

**Summary:** Sebastian answers the question he and Blaine had been asking since their fake date.

 **SURPRISE! HAPPY 8** **TH** **SEBLAINIVERSARY**

 **Reminders (since it's been a while): The New New Directions Kids are aged a year from canon**

 **Sebastian refers to Marley as Goldie because she's the one with "A heart of gold."**

 **Blaine's dad is often referred to as** _ **that**_ **Michael Anderson implying he is extremely powerful. How/why he has that power is left to the imagination.**

 **The depiction of the Warblers in this chapter (story) does not express how I truly feel. However, I can see how some could due to (stupid) canon.**

 **Warning: Why Kitty was so protective of Blaine is discussed. It is based on canon episode 4x20** _ **Lights Out.**_ **If you are unaware, see end note for further explanation.**

* * *

Blaine, Sebastian and Santana stayed up most the night talking. When sleep finally won out, and Santana admitted her fear Blaine would be gone when she woke-up, the boys gave in and stayed. Sebastian did go across the hall to get something for them to sleep in but when he returned he smiled when he saw there was no point. Blaine and Santana were already asleep, snuggled together. He kicked off his shoes and crawled into the bed behind Blaine, at peace for the first time in months.

The next day the three of them went to Blaine's family home to wait for his parents. Blaine explained to Santana how most of his relatives were out on the boar hunt and he wanted to help the few left behind to prepare for their return. Sebastian and Santana offered their help as well but Blaine's Aunt Rosa wouldn't hear of it. She fed them instead.

When Rosa saw Blaine was actually eating and not pushing the food around his plate, she willed herself not to cry for joy.

In the end, they wound up being extremely helpful. Gigi had been upset all morning but the sight of Blaine with her _Darling Boy_ calmed her instantly. She also took a liking to Santana. They were in the middle of laughing at Santana's attempts to telepathically communicate with her ( _How can Seb do it and I can't?_ _I'm the one with the Mexican psychic third-eye!)_ when Blaine's parents arrived.

To say things went badly was a massive understatement. The Andersons knew about Sebastian but were unaware Santana was in Florence. It was clear they weren't pleased and it was even more clear neither Blaine, Sebastian nor Santana gave a crap. During a particulary tense exchange between Blaine and his father, Sebastian decided to try to take Gigi (who had refused to leave) out of the room.

 _Don't worry, Darling Boy. I've got this_

The next thing he knew Gigi began crying, calling out for her Yankee-DoodleLover. When the outburst got the desired effect and the yelling stopped, she gave Sebastian a subtle wink.

He should have known the old girl was faking. God, her loved her.

The most to come from the first sit down was an update on Sue. She was refusing to talk until she could put her so-called legal dream team together. The Andersons gave permission to tell her Blaine was alive hoping she would drop the grandstanding. The DA swore he saw a hint of relief, but it quickly went away and she began yelling Judge Judy was (supposedly) her second-cousin once removed.

None of them realized how long they had been at it until Aunt Rosa came in to invite Sebastian and Santana to stay for dinner. Sebastian wasn't about to leave and was quite shocked when Santana declined considering she hadn't let Blaine out of her sight. Hell, she even followed him to the bathroom! Everything was explained when he and Blaine went to Blaine's apartment to wash up. A table dressed with pressed linens, lit candles, colorful platters of pastas, baskets of breads and crystal glasses for the bottle of wine was in the middle of Blaine's living area. "Is this the real date we never had?"

Blaine didn't answer, just walked to the table and pulled out Sebastian's chair. Once seated, and much to their surprise, there was moment of unexpected awkwardness. Both were thankful for the wine.

Since Blaine's story of the past 15 months had been discussed at nauseum (his words), the focus went to Sebastian. During one story of his cousin Christian's undying love for Miss Rachel Berry, Blaine began to laugh so hard they had to stop so he could catch his breath.

"Don't take this wrong, as I'm sure he's lovely, but your cousin sounds like an even more flamboyant version of Kurt…times 10. And you hate Kurt…times 10."

"Christian owns who he is. He's not constantly seeking attention to be accepted for something he's not. Which in Hummel's case is an Alpha Gay, like you."

"I'm not that person anymore." Before Sebastian could delve deeper into the comment, Blaine changed the subject. "Tell me everything about the New, New…I'm sorry, the Fam."

"You really didn't ask your parents?"

"It was too hard." Sebastian's heart broke hearing not only what Blaine said, but his tone saying it. "I do know Coop is doing a Broadway play. Thankfully, I was off the heavy-duty painkillers when I found out or I might not have believed it. He once told me Broadway was dead."

Sebastian held back a laugh. The story of Cooper's Hamilton audition was legendary within the Fam, but it was Cooper's story to tell. "It's making a comeback. Word of mouth is Hamilton will be huge. It's already impossible to get a ticket but Coop made sure the Fam could be there opening night. Wes and Joe are questionable but fortunately, the Kids and Sam will be in NYC for Nationals. " He was surprised when there was no reaction to his subtle clue Sam hadn't joined the other graduates in New York. "You knew Sam stayed in Lima, didn't you?"

"Yes"

"Then you asked about him"

"No"

Before he could call him out, it became clear what Blaine was trying so hard not to say. "But you did ask about Kitty. Why didn't you say anything? She was with you when you were shot. Of course, you would have asked about her."

"I didn't...I didn't…"

Sebastian reached across the table to hold Blaine's hand, giving him permission to not answer his question. "Hey, I would have been shocked if she wasn't the first thing you asked about when you were able."

"Second after _Where the hell am I?_ " Blaine tried to joke, knowing where this was heading. "Did she tell you…"

"Her secret? Yeah, she told everyone. I still can't believed you punched that asshole in the middle of the Lima Mall, on Black Friday, and nothing got out."

"He forced her into the back of the store. Considering what he did at that slumber party…" Blaine stopped to pull back his anger and Sebastian understood completely. When Kitty told him what happened, Artie literally blocked the door so he couldn't go find the guy and beat the shit out of him. "I'm just thankful Sam saw what was going on."

"After that you taught her to box?"

"Yes, but Sam became her touchstone. I was always finding them together or at least on the phone either talking or texting. I knew they were falling for each other even with Sam being with Britt…who should have never split from Santana. With my being gone, there was no chance Sam would leave Kitty. I didn't have to ask. "

"Goldie says they're hysterical to watch. They've never been able to officially become a couple since Sam's an assistant football coach and Kitty's a cheerleader but everyone knows they're together."

"Oh my god, McKinley has had A LOT of inappropriate relationships but that would be beyond creepy."

"And totally illegal. Now, I've got two question then we can move on. First, how did you get the guy not to call the cops? Both Kitty and Sam said he was adamant then you said something they couldn't hear and next thing they knew the asshole was tripping all over himself trying to apologize."

Blaine flashed a devious smile, piquing Sebastian's curiosity even further. "It was the one and only time in my life I used my dad's name. Told the guy to go ahead, call the cops and I would call my dad… _that_ Michael Anderson."

"Oh, shit! I can't believe you went there. Well, for Kitty, or any of the Fam, I can see it. Was that everything you said to the son of a bitch?"

"Is that you're second question?"

Sebastian smiled at the snark. Every time it happened it was a sign Blaine Warbler was still there…somewhere. "No, consider it question 1.5."

"Ok, we tried to get Kitty to press charges but she didn't want people to know since the last time she was harassed to the point she had to change schools. I respected her wishes but told him if he ever came near her again…"

Oh, duh! "You'd let your dad handle it. Gotta admit, I hate the man for telling everyone you were dead but he fascinates me. He's actually my second question. Is _that_ Michael Anderson as dangerous as his reputation makes him out to be or is it all rumor and urban legend?"

"Not telling but will say he knows where to bury the bodies" Blaine laughed, once again causing him to have to catch his breath.

"You do that a lot…lose your breath. Is it something that will get better with time?" When Blaine put down his napkin and sat back in his chair, Sebastian knew whatever he had to say wouldn't be good. "What haven't you told me?"

"The bullet damaged not only to my abdomen but my diaphragm as well. I'm always going to have this problem. And, and…" Blaine tried to gather himself but couldn't stop a stray tear "I can't sing anymore. It's too hard."

"That's a lie!" Sebastian got up and stepped away from the table. He couldn't believe Blaine would flat-out lie to him after everything. "I heard you. Christian heard you! Gigi told me you would sing to her. How else would she know _Uptown Girl_ , _Dark Side_ and _Glad You Came_? And really Blaine, you sang _Shape of You_ to your 92 year-old Bisnonna?"

"Sebastian, I swear I didn't. When did you hear me sing?"

"You sang _Creep_ at the restaurant. It's how I found you. I knew it was you when you changed the pronouns like I did that day in your car."

"I didn't sing _Creep_. I only played it on the piano. I…I don't know why I played that particular song when you just happened to be at the restaurant."

"Bullshit!"

 _You won't hear his words if you listen with your ears, Darling Boy. You must listen with your heart._

Sebastian tried to remember exactly what Christian said after he saw…Oh, shit. Christian followed him up the stairs when he found Blaine. He _saw_ Blaine. He never mentioned his voice. His cousin was a musical savant, and total snob. There's no way he could have resisted comparing Blaine's voice with his.

How did he miss this?

"I think my voodoo connection with Gigi began before I thought." Sebastian sat back at the table, poured and then gulped down another glass of wine. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you but you've got to admit this is all beyond weird." Then it hit him. "You're not going to New York, are you?"

"No" Blaine sighed, thankful he hadn't had to say the words. "A couple of months ago my parents told me about a rehab center in Arizona. It concentrates on mind, body and spirit. I'm sure it was their plan to hide me there but I researched it anyway. It's actually pretty spectacular and the dry air will help my breathing."

"Blaine, I told you I can't keep you secret and you know Santana will break sooner than later and…"

"No, I'm going to NYC first." Those words were enough to allow Sebastian to settle back and listen. "I want to see the New Directions win Nationals again and Coop's opening night. However, I haven't decided if I want to tell them beforehand. I know that's asking a lot of you and Santana but I don't want to upset their focus. You've got to admit, coming back from the dead will be hard to ignore."

"That's a massive understatement." What Blaine said made sense but Sebastian had no idea how they'd pull it off. It was only a week so he could probably make it through (well, maybe if he told Artie). Santana was another story. Maybe Christian could keep her occupied.

He was so far in his head trying to form a plan, it took him a moment to realize Blaine was talking again.

"And I'll probably have to make a trip to Lima. I want to check on people, especially Becky, but, get this, I'm almost 20 and haven't graduated from high school. I think McKinley owes me at least that. I mean I would have been Valedictorian if they hadn't forced me to take woodshop. That grade dropped me behind Artie and Tina. And…why are you smiling?"

"You're rambling. You may not believe you're him anymore, but every now and then Blaine Warbler comes out."

Rather than dismissing Sebastian's comment, Blaine saw it as an opening to a different topic. "Awkward transition, but that's one thing you've never mentioned…the Warblers. How did they feel about you performing with the New Directions at Nationals?"

Sebastian debated whether or not to tell him how he obliterated the Warblers during his speech at the memorial service but finally chose to put it on the _Going to have to talk about it sometime but not today_ list he had been making in his head. "There was nothing they could say. I pulled a Blaine Anderson and transferred to McKinley."

Blaine sat stoically while his brain processed that piece of information. Sure, it wasn't _Surprise! I'm not dead_ but still, WFT?! "You? Sebastian Alexander Smythe? Transferred to McKinley? Willingly? What about the public school stench?"

"Air freshener works wonders." Sebastian knew he wasn't going to get away with ending it there. "It was all your fault, you know. And not because you weren't there anymore."

"How?"

"I realized while speaking at your memorial…" Sebastian stopped, not meaning to say that last part, but Blaine motioned for him to continue "…you insisted I get to know the New New Directions for a reason. I needed people who cared about me. I reverted into myself after the Slushie…"

"Seb…"

"No, Blaine. The Warblers made me the fall guy for what happened to you. So, I stepped down as Captain to keep the peace only to get blamed for the steroids because I was quote/unquote _the reason Dalton_ _brought in Hunter_. I was always a Warbler in name only, I just couldn't see it."

Blaine had. It was hard for him to believe at first but it became obvious during the days he spent sitting silently on the couch in the Warblers' commons after the steroids scandal broke.

"But with the New, New Directions I was Bas…a member, not of the group, but the family. The guy who was Goldie's big brother and sang Spice Girl songs with the girls. Who did broga with Sam, danced with Jake, helped Ryder study, taught Joe to tie his shoes…"

"Wait, what do you mean taught Joe to tie his shoes?"

Shit! Joe in a hospital in Rio was definitely on the _Going to have to talk about it sometime but not today_ list. "He's on a mission trip in South America, remember? He couldn't wear his trademark Birkenstocks. Evidently, those times he had to wear shoes to perform, he either had slip-ons or Sugar took care of it." Move on…quickly! "And for the first time in my life I had a best friend in Artie."

"Got to admit, you and Artie being besties, never saw that one coming."

"Me either."

A silence fell between them. Blaine stood and began clearing the table while Sebastian went to the window. He was still there when Blaine finished the dishes.

Evidently, he got a lot of thinking done in those 15 minutes.

"I know the exact moment I fell in love with you. Not when I just wanted to get into your tight pants, not when I realized you were the most amazing person I would ever know. The exact moment I fell in love with you was on our fake date to Schuster's non-wedding. I reminded you I had changed and you said no… _That guy was the anomaly. This you? This is the you I always saw_ "

When Sebastian finally turned around, it was obvious he had been crying. It was also obvious he hadn't finished what he wanted to say. "I love you so much but all I keep thinking about is the message you left after you were shot. The one saying _It was always real_? You're right. There has been something real between Sebastian and Blaine since _Uptown Girl_. But Bas and Babe…Was any of that real? No. I'm so sorry...but no."

It was a selfish fantasy to think Sebastian would follow him to Arizona. Blaine knew that in his head. Didn't mean his heart didn't shatter when reality set it. "I get it. We can't be Bas and Babe again because we never really were. They were only a dream." He didn't try to fight his tears as he fell into Sebastian's arms. He couldn't stop imagining what could have been…what should have been. A life in NYC with the man he loved.

None of this was fair

But he was tired of being the victim so he made himself a deal. 2 years, no 3…5, 5 years. He'd give himself 5 years to get the whole mind, body, spirit thing together. If he and Sebastian were destined to be together, the stars would align. If they weren't, he'd let him go.

Or, at least he'd try.

* * *

Note:

I know sad on Seblainiversary is a bummer. Sorry but hey, I updated!

Judge Judy is an American television personality known for being brutally honest and not taking bullshit from anyone. She is (or was) an actual lawyer/judge.

Episode 4x20. Ryder admitted to the group he was touched inappropriately by a babysitter and was ridiculed by Sam and Artie. Later, Kitty told him of her own experience being molested by a friend's older brother at a slumber party. Side note: The characters of Sam and Artie would have NEVER said those things. Puck, Finn, absolutely but not Sam and Artie. This is by far my #1 _Canon Pissed Me Off_ moment not involving Blaine or Sebastian.

If you've read my fics in the past, you know when I try to estimate chapters there usually winds up being one more. I originally said there would be 10, tried to cut back to 6 (oops), but went back to 10. As you can see in the tags there will be an 11th (and final) chapter. I promise this one won't take 6 months to post.

*In case you didn't catch it...The question Sebastian answers is Was any of it real?


	11. 1825 Days

**Summary:** There are 1825 days in 5 years

 **Note:** While the first 10 chapters were told primarily from Sebastian's POV, this is told in snippets of time and the POV will vary depending on what is happening

 **Warning: This will not have the reunion scenes you might have wanted.**

 **Written for Seblainiversary 2019 and the suggested prompt** _ **Through the Years**_

* * *

 **Day 1**

"Santana, darling, wake up. We have an emergency."

"Go away" she groaned, rolling over and pulling up the silk sheet. There had to be a way to take this bed back to NYC with her. Maybe Christian…shit! She sat up and sure enough it was Sebastian's cousin sitting next to her.

The day before, when Blaine told her his plan for dinner with Sebastian, she called Christian and told him to get his ass back to Florence. If Sebastian was half the sobbing wreck Blaine had been…oh-no. "Where's Blaine?"

"Across the hall in our suite. Somehow, the door was left unlocked and he walked in on Bastian Skyping with Wesley."

"Seb told Wes about Blaine?"

"No, he was getting an update on Joe's condition. However, Blaine overheard. He might look fragile but he was able to push Bastian aside before sitting in front of the computer, demanding answers."

"So, no one told Wes Blaine was alive before he…Shit!" She jumped out of bed and put on her robe. "And everyone thought I'd be the problem."

 **3 Days later: Blaine's "official" Day 1**

Blaine decided to begin his 5 year countdown today for two different reasons. #1, it was his birthday. Made things easier to remember. #2, he was in NYC and by the end of the week everyone who mattered to him would know his story.

He found the born/reborn symbolism comforting

What he was uncomfortable with was the plan to tell everyone. Well, not uncomfortable, but unhappy others would be told before members of the Fam. However, his mother had a point. Telling everyone at once would be overwhelming so a few, strategically chosen people would be told Saturday after Nationals. Then Sunday morning, those people would divide out into small groups and tell others.

But there was one person who couldn't wait

"Hey, Cooper"

 **Day 12**

Sue walked into the courtroom and rolled her eyes. Why was the gallery full of those asinine Glee Clubbers? Hell, the only 2 people who weren't she recognized from Dalton as the Warblers with Young Burt Reynolds when he met Porcelain. Getting ahold of that video had been particularly challenging but in the end it was worth it.

When she sat down at her table, the current pimple-faced public idiot she was assigned began to yammer…blah, blah, blah. Show remorse? For what? This hearing was supposed to be about getting her assets unfrozen so she could get a proper legal team. Or, maybe she should represent herself. After all, she didn't _steal_ funds from the school district. She _reallocated_ what she needed for her Cheerios.

And Gay Blaine? (Ah, Becky) How dare they make her believe he was…no, he was fine. Ok, maybe trying to ruin the Acapella Dreamboat's (damn, she wished she had come up with that one) parents' credit wasn't the best idea…especially, since his father was _that_ Michael Anderson. She was just trying to find a way to keep him away from the dashing Disney prince until Klaine could find their way back to each other.

Was it too much to want to be a flower girl at their fabulous gay wedding?

Next thing she knew Doogie Lawyer Wannabe was nudging her to stand for the judge. Before he could be seated, the doors in the back of the courtroom opened and her heart stopped. Holding hands with Kitty, flanked by Evans and Smythe, in walked Blaine Anderson…or a shell of the boy Blaine Anderson had once been.

No matter the circumstances, she had done that to him.

"Your Honor, I'm changing my plea to guilty."

 **Day 159**

Running was his new sanctuary. He did it practically every day and was in awe of the miles he racked up. In some sort of cosmic coincidence, he had run 381 miles in the last 6 weeks…the exact distance from Los Angeles to Tempe, Arizona. In other words, the exact distance to Blaine.

He really shouldn't know that

Artie's prize for the big student filmmaker contest he won was a full ride scholarship to the film school at USC. After 2 days back in NYC (and with Christian's blessing), Sebastian decided to go to LA with him. NYC would always be Blaine and he needed to move on. He offered his cousin the brownstone ( _Seriously, Bastian? Moi? In a Brooklyn brownstone and not a Manhattan penthouse?_ ) but wound up giving it to Santana. She was now the Fam's HBIC of the East Coast and thrived in the role.

He and Artie found a house in the Hollywood Hills with several guest rooms for the Fam and miles of trails in the back. That was where he preferred to run but today he was at the USC track. He was waiting for Artie's last class to finish then they were going to pick up Marley from LAX. A 4-day weekend at a rented beach house in Malibu was what they all needed.

An hour later he walked into Artie's mostly empty class. "You about ready?"

"I've been ready. You're late again, Dude!"

Sebastian ran his fingers through his still damp hair. "With as much time as we're about to spend in the car I thought you'd appreciate me not skipping the shower."

"Point taken. You can get pretty rank after a run."

Off to the side, a man had been watching the two friends interact and couldn't help but smile at what he overheard. Before they could leave, he hurried to grab the taller one's arm. "Excuse me, but did he say you were late because you were running?"

 **Day 392**

Blaine laid in bed, staring at a photo of last weekend's _I'm not moving to Canada,_ _just filming my superhero television show there_ party for Sebastian. It was the first time the Fam had all been together since his return from Italy (or the dead…whatever). It was wonderful to see...oh, who was he kidding? This was about Sebastian.

It was always about Sebastian

He had looked good (like really, really good) and exuded a confidence that made Blaine…damn it! What was the word? No, not horny…ok, horny but (sigh)…

Jealous

A year later he was still at the rehab center. His progress hadn't been slow, it had been excruciatingly slow. Thankfully, Sam and Kitty were with him. Kitty had some lingering nerve damage from the broken arm and Sam had serious co-dependency/abandonment issues, so the Andersons offered to pay for them to come with him.

Yes, it had been a blatant attempt by his parents to get back in his good graces but Blaine had to admit it was pretty awesome to have had them there.

After 6 months, they could have left Arizona but stayed. Blaine would have protested if not for Broga.

Early on the rehab director saw him and Sam working out and asked Sam to teach a class. It was a huge success. He now teaches several classes a week both at the center and in town while Kitty takes classes at Arizona State. She saw Broga becoming a global phenomenon and planned to run the business.

They were moving forward, and he was happy for them, but he was back to the fact a year of the timeline he had given himself was gone. Now Sebastian was going to be a bigtime TV star with his face all over magazines and the internet. He would have men throwing themselves at him.

And he was in Tempe, Arizona having a pity party

 **Day 467**

Even though he couldn't seem to move forward, the night of his pity party Blaine decided to move out…of the rehab center. Just because he still needed the services, it didn't mean he had to live there. It took a little time but he and his parents found a 7 bedroom house with an amazing pool. There was more than enough room for him, Sam, Kitty and any of the Fam who wanted to stay awhile.

They had been in the house 2 weeks when they got their first request to stay, which was surprising in a couple of ways. The first was none of them thought anyone would ask to stay so soon because it was summer and over 100 degrees every day. The other was the request was not from a member of the Fam. It was from Mike Chang. When he blew out his knee he asked Tina about the rehab center. She called Blaine and that was that.

Mike was there 6 weeks, and beyond grateful, but on his last night he decided he couldn't hold something back any longer.

"Where's your spirit, Blaine?"

"Spirit? Like school…rah, rah, go McKinley?"

"Jerk" Mike reassessed how to approach this. Blaine was a great guy, and had absolutely been through hell, but was in dire need of a swift kick in the ass. "Spirit as in mind, body, spirit. You know, the corner stones of the center where you have gone almost every day for a year and a half."

"What are you talking about? I meditate every day."

"That's not what I'm talking about and you know it. Where's the music, Blaine?"

The question literally knocked him back. No one had dared mentioned music to him after they heard he couldn't sing any longer. "Mike, I don't know if you know but…"

"You can't sing anymore? Yeah, that's bullshit. You can't sing from your diaphragm so don't try a musical. And what about piano? You have this huge house and no piano. Seriously? And what about other instruments? How many more do you play?"

"I…"

"How many?"

"7"

"Well, damn. That's impressive."

"Mike, you don't understand."

"Actually, I do but if you tell anyone what I'm about to say I'll deny it." Mike closed his eyes, took a deep breath and said "My father was right."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Dance is a part of me but not all of me. I cut off the part of me that loved learning and science. The part of me that did want to grow up to be a doctor. When I get back to Chicago, I'm going to find a way to combine the two."

"Awesome for you but I only ever wanted to be a performer. What am I supposed to combine that with? Being a victim?"

"Try survivor and you've got a place to start."

 **Day 726**

 _*Knock Knock*_

He wondered what kind of reception he would get. There was no way Blaine was expecting him.

Sad eyes opened the door but they were soon joined by a slight smile. "Who told you? I just found out."

"Who do you think?" Sebastian chuckled as he stepped forward to engulf Blaine in his arms. He refused to think about how good it felt. "The old girl told me to come get you."

"I thought you hadn't heard Gigi's voice in your head since we left Florence?"

"I hadn't until this morning."

 _This is goodbye, my Darling Boy. Bring my Blaine to me. He will need you_

Blaine pulled away, obviously a little embarrassed at not doing it sooner. "Please come in."

Sebastian carried in his bag, sitting it off to the side. "Where are Sam and Kitty?"

"Miami. Ever since Sam worked with that basketball player at the center he has been in high demand."

"It's not just athletes. Our stuntmen swear by Broga when recovering from fight scenes. Tell me they have this all tied up."

"Patents, copywrites, the whole 9 yards. Kitty is already a cutthroat business woman. Excuse me." Blaine pulled out his phone. "It's my mom. A car will be here to take me to the airport in an hour and I haven't packed. Are, are you coming to Florence for Gigi's funeral? I mean you brought a bag but I know you're busy."

"Of course, I'm coming. I would have gotten the time off if necessary but we're on the pre-crossover hiatus. Two weeks off then things go completely insane." He wouldn't have put it past the old girl to wait for him to be available. Maybe he should try to lighten the mood. "Get this, Greg's using my show to launch a new one."

"That's great. Which character?"

"The big guy"

It took a moment. "Wow! Guess we have a lot to talk about. Good thing we've got an 8 hour flight to fill with conversation. Make yourself comfortable. I'll be down soon."

Sebastian had forgotten he had never been here. Blaine must have as well. He'll be mortified he hadn't offered him a tour or at least a beverage. Fortunately, it was an open floor plan and he could see the kitchen from where he was standing. He grabbed a bottle of juice out of the fridge then took in his surroundings.

The kitchen was good size with a large breakfast bar, set up for far more than 3 people. It was much the same as his and Artie's house in LA and the brownstone in Brooklyn…always ready for any member of the Fam to stay.

On the other side of French doors was the pool area. He had heard stories about this pool and the parties held there. Seeing it in person brought those stories to life. He loved his job but it did keep him away from the people he loved. They had all called him out on it, assuming it was an excuse to stay away from Blaine. And yes, in the beginning it was, but it had gotten better.

At least he thought it had

He was about to head in when something drew him to one of the two pool houses. The sliding door was open so he just walked in.

The entire place had been transformed into a music room with instruments everywhere. A grand piano was front and center, covered in sheet music and text books. Two weeks earlier, at the Brittana engagement party, Blaine told him he started classes but he never envisioned this.

"I see you found my mess. At least that's what Kitty called it when she kicked me out of the house and moved everything in here."

When Sebastian turned and saw Blaine…he _SAW_ Blaine. He looked good, healthier. The dark circles under his eyes were gone. His hair was still long but styled. He filled out his clothes. Not the same style as before but his heart skipped a beat when he noticed the bowtie.

Oh, yeah. He still had the bowtie kink.

He hadn't when Blaine wore one in Italy but that wasn't his Blaine. Neither was the man he was looking at but he was well on his way. How had he not noticed 2 weeks ago? It was impossible for this to be a sudden change.

"Sebastian?"

"Oh, sorry, but I think we have more important things to discuss on our flight than superheroes."

 **Day 740**

"Mike Chang, Goldie! Mike Fucking Chang!"

Marley rubbed her temples fighting off a headache, but she let Sebastian continue to rant…again. She loved Sebastian. He was her brother but he had been whining about this since he got back from Florence last week. If he kept it up she might regret taking the part on the spin-off show.

Who was she kidding? That was not happening. Flying was awesome!

Rachel tried to warn her. Yes, that Rachel. They had all heard of Christian's epic platonic love for Miss Rachel Berry before most of them met him in person. What they didn't expect was for her to _fall in platonic love with him at first sight_ (her words). They were currently living in London with Rachel on the West End and Christian in residence at the Royal Opera House.

Wonder what ever happened to Kurt

Anyway, Rachel and Christian went to Florence to support Sebastian knowing how he felt about Blaine's Gigi. Evidently, on the plane, Blaine told him he decided to go to college when Mike convinced him he needed to find a way to bring music back into his life. She thought becoming a therapist with a focus of using music to help trauma survivors was perfect for Blaine. Sebastian did too but…

"Mike Fucking Chang!"

That was it!

She got up off the couch and pushed him back onto it. There wasn't a lot of room in these trailers. "I am saying this for the last time. Yes, you told Blaine he should find a way to bring music back into his life. So did his parents, Cooper, the therapists at the center, Wes, Sam, Kitty, Santana, Kitty and Santana together in an intervention, as well as every other member of the Fam including me. He wasn't ready."

"Gold…"

"I'm not finished! Mike was a fresh voice who happened to be there at the right time. Get over it. Blaine is doing exactly what you wanted him to do when you told him the two of you couldn't be Bas and Babe. He's moving on. Now it's your turn."

Sebastian waved his arms pointing out where they were. "Hello, moved on."

"No, new job." Ok, Marley Rose, you can do this "When was the last time you were on a date?"

He obviously wasn't expecting her to go there. He sighed and dropped his head when he realized the answer. "The only _date_ I've been on is the fake one with Blaine to that ridiculous non-wedding. But then I was in mourning because Blaine died and then I was in mourning because he was alive but we couldn't be together and then I got this job. It's not necessarily conducive to dating."

"That's an excuse. A totally gorgeous guy could walk in here right now and you would find an excuse not to date him."

"Fine, I promise to go on a date with the next gorgeous, single, gay guy who walks in here."

 _*Knock Knock*_

"Um, hi. I just wanted to come by and introduce myself. I'm Tyler."

 **Day 1695**

"You and Kitty seriously want to have your wedding here in our backyard?"

The week before Sam and Kitty (finally) got engaged. Everyone assumed it would happen earlier but things hit a bump when Broga went public. With all the athlete and celebrity backing it had, it ended its first day with an estimated value of $50 million. Sam asked Kitty to marry him that day and she said no.

It took an intervention with Blaine, Santana, Britt, Sugar, Tina, Marley and Unique (and A LOT of alcohol) for her to admit she didn't want to be seen as a gold digger, marrying Sam for his money.

Yeah, that totally blew Sam's (and everyone else's) mind considering what happened to his family his sophomore year. The money was nothing to him except security for his family and friends. He promised their life wouldn't change. They were partners and it was going to stay that way. To prove it he gave her papers increasing her 10% of the business to 50%. It was he wanted all along and never should have let her talk him out of it.

Kitty smiled and tore up the papers but did keep the $500,000 engagement ring.

And Sam smiled because he had 9 more copies of the papers. He'd get his way someday.

"It's not about the wedding for us, you know that. It's about the party after and there is…"

"No better party than a Casa Blam party" they said in unison, finishing with their customary fist bump.

Even though it was 10PM and the only light currently on the patio was moon and star light, Sam could tell something was going on with Blaine. It had to be one of two things and hopefully it was Number 1. "You can't back out of officiating the wedding, Dude. It was the compromise we came up with since you can't be both of our Best Man."

"Oh, no, Sammy, I'm so honored you asked me to marry the two of you."

Great (not!) Number 2!

Last month a picture of Sebastian and Tyler dancing at Santana and Brittany's wedding was leaked to a tabloid who put it on their cover with a headline insinuating they were next. Blaine had handled _Sebler_ better than anyone anticipated but for some reason that photo threw him.

"They've been together a long time."

Funny how Blaine needed no clarification for Sam's sudden change of topic. "I know" he sighed before taking a large swig of his beer. "Sebastian is happy. That's all I ever wanted for him."

Sam could tell there was a "But…"

"But…wow, I've never said this out loud. Here goes. My birthday is in 6 months."

Huh? "You've never said your birthday is in 6 months out loud before?"

"Ha, ha. No, it's just, this will make it 5 years since I came back from Italy…"

"You mean the dead."

"Sam…"

There was something about the tone Blaine used for his name that had Sam sit up in his lounge chair. "Blaine, tell me what's going on."

"The night Sebastian and I said we both had to move on I made a promise to myself. I had 5 years to get myself together. If Sebastian and I were meant to be then at that time we would find our way back to each other. If not, I'd let go."

"And you have gotten yourself together. You're physically healthy, in school…oh, I get it. When they got together there was still 3 years left. It hurt but there was time. Now you're down to 6 months, Sebastian is still with Tyler and the media is talking marriage. You're running out of time."

Blaine took the pillow from behind his head and covered his face. "I'm so pathetic."

"Yes, you are but I love you anyway."

Blaine pulled back the pillow and stuck out his tongue "Thanks, asshole." The pillow went back to his face, an obvious defensive measure. "I want to let him go, Sam. I really do but…I mean, it's only 6 more months. Right?"

"Have you thought about dating? There has to be someone at ASU you could go have coffee with. What about the guy who plays cello in your string quartet? There's four of you yet he's always coming over to rehearse one-on-one."

"He's a nice guy but no."

"Why not? He's cute for a dude."

Blaine removed the pillow, this time for good. "His name is Barry."

"Ok, no cello guy." Sam knew his friend. He would find an excuse for every guy as long as that 5 year date was out there. The one thing Blaine still had an issue with was time and schedules. He was anal to the point of OCD about them. His therapist said it was probably due to the time Blaine "lost" after he was shot.

However, this 5 year timeline made more sense and if Blaine didn't see it through he wouldn't move on, no matter what he said.

A brilliant (at least he thought so) idea popped into Sam's head. Hopefully, Kitty would agree or he was in serious trouble. "Then let's make sure you see Sebastian on your birthday. We'll have the wedding that day. He'll have to come."

 **Day 1826**

Blaine looked around and all he could see was mess but he was going to let it go…for now. His therapist will be so proud.

Hell, he was proud and not only for being able to walk away from his trashed back yard.

Sam's brilliant plan had seemed to work perfectly. Neither of them told anyone (even Kitty) the true reason behind his insistence on the date but no one questioned it. They all assumed it had something to do with since it was also Blaine's birthday, Sam had a better chance of remembering his anniversary every year.

Once wedding planning got into full gear, there was a definite change in Blaine's attitude. He no longer moped around anytime the latest Sebler rumors hit Twitter and he actually went on a coffee date with Barry. It was an epic fail which led to Barry being kicked out of the string quartet but he tried. There was a peace in knowing he would see Sebastian at the wedding, more importantly on his 5 year deadline.

Then a week before the wedding Sebastian called and cancelled.

And Blaine's world didn't fall apart.

The wedding day came and everything went perfectly.

Kitty was the most beautiful bride he had ever seen and Sam cried through the entire ceremony.

Since he officiated the ceremony, Sam had unexpectedly chosen Santana to be his Best Person. That led to an interesting toast at the reception.

He finally got to meet his new goddaughter when Wes and his wife were able to get a last minute flight from their dig in Costa Rica.

After the first dance and the cake was cut, another cake was brought out…a surprise birthday cake for him.

No one mentioned the 5 years

And then they par-tayed!

Now it was 2AM, the newlyweds were on their way to a private beach somewhere and he had a house full of sleeping (passed out) Fam. Santana and Brittany were in his bed so he was headed to his pool house/office/music room. After one too many nights of falling asleep at his desk/piano, he had put a bed in there.

There was also a bottle of Courvoisier waiting for him. He had bought it as a joke for Sebastian. Guess the joke was on him.

"Hey, Killer"

The voice had come out of the dark so he wondered if it was his imagination. Turning on the lights proved it wasn't. "You haven't called me that in a long time." It felt like a more appropriate thing to say than _What are you doing_ _here?_ or _What's going on you look like hell?_

"True" Sebastian held up the bottle of Courvoisier. "You remembered."

"I always remember when it comes to you." Blaine walked over and sat on the loveseat next to him. There was obviously something going on but it was up to Sebastian to tell him what it was.

So, they sat…and sat…and sat, never looking at each other, just silently passing the bottle of Cognac between them. It was ¾ gone before "I couldn't do it, Blaine. He wants it so badly…marriage, house with a yard, kids, dogs. And I want it too. I want it so much it scares me. And I love him. I really do love him but…"

Blaine took Sebastian's hand in his and forced himself to look at the man next to him. The man, who despite his best efforts, he still loved more than anything. "But what?"

"He's not you."

 **Day 3245**

 _Everyone shut up. They're here!_

Sebastian shut off the car then turned to look in the back seat. For a moment he remembered himself as a boy of 17 feeling so terribly alone. He wished he could go back and tell him how wonderful his life would turn out. And how, on this date, the primary reason for that life would be smiling at him with a tiny pink bundle in his arms.

When he opened the front door, they were met by the sight of the people they loved with their hands held up in silent applause. He felt a little pang of sadness for the one person who was missing but he was pretty sure she knew what was going on.

"Friends, family, Blaine and I would like to introduce you to our daughter…Gigi."

* * *

 **Note:**

Yes, Tyler was based on Tyler Hoechlin because…do I really need to explain?

 **This was nowhere near how I saw the story playing out when I read the Seblaine Week 2018 prompt** _ **Fake Dating**_ **, but here we are. Thank you for joining me on this ride.**


End file.
